riot act
7
7.4
- noun
- /ˈraɪət ækt/
- Informal
:
advertencia severa
- Finest pulled me over and read me the riot act, telling me that flashing my lights was illegal and that if he caught me again, he would throw the book at me.
- read the riot act
I don't try to read them the riot act and tell them how bad this is.
- I don't try to read them the riot act and tell them how bad this is.
- And I'm like reading the riot act to the left this week and I'm thrilled about it.
Examples
-
The teacher read the riot act to the students after they disrupted the class.
-
I gotta go down and read the riot act to them.
-
- I read him the riot act.
-
The doctor read him the riot act.
Fiction book (1994) -
I read him the riot act about obeying the law and being honest.
Fiction book (2000) -
And then the lawyers read the riot act: the liability consequences, the different rules that apply in each state and in each province.
Blog text (18) -
I've just been read the riot act by our friend from naval intelligence.
-
Don't mean to interrupt the pajama party, but Teri just read me the riot act because Jane's new client is in her office and Jane is not.
-
After the incident, the manager had to read the riot act to the employees about their behavior in the meeting.
-
Feeling frustrated, she read him the riot act for ignoring her advice.
Synonyms
1
8.8
A strong scolding you get when someone is angry with you
Antonyms
How Severe
- Informal
7
7.4
22
6.8
- Formal
24
6.1
17
7.4
∞
1.0
342
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
riot + act
The institutional meaning 'a severe warning or reprimand' cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'riot' (disturbance) and 'act' (a law); a B1 learner who knows those words would likely infer a law about riots, not the idiomatic sense of scolding. The expression comes from a historical practice (reading the Riot Act) and functions idiomatically in modern use, so its sense is not predictable from the parts.
Etymology
The phrase riot act comes from an old British law called the Riot Act, which officials would read aloud to a noisy crowd to order them to leave or be punished. So today, to 'read someone the riot act' means to give a very strict warning 'to stop bad behavior'.