trip to the woodshed
1
9.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
reprimenda
- He got a trip to the woodshed after the meeting.
Examples
-
When the team lost the game, the coach gave them a real trip to the woodshed in the locker room.
-
After missing several deadlines, he knew a trip to the woodshed was coming.
-
Her careless mistake led to an unexpected trip to the woodshed from her supervisor.
-
After that mistake, she deserved a trip to the woodshed.
-
After his poor behavior, his teacher said he needed to take a trip to the woodshed to learn responsibility.
-
The manager made it clear that a trip to the woodshed was necessary for the team to understand the seriousness of their mistakes.
-
When the child misbehaved, the parent insisted that a trip to the woodshed was the best way to teach a lesson.
Synonyms
1
4.2
A serious scolding from someone like a parent or boss
1
6.1
A severe scolding from someone in charge, often in front of other people
1
7.4
A strong scolding you get for doing something wrong
1
8.8
A strong scolding you get when someone is angry with you
A severe scolding given to someone for a serious mistake
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
trip + to + the + woodshed
The meaning 'an occasion when someone is punished or strongly reprimanded' cannot be derived from the literal constituents: 'trip' (a journey) and 'woodshed' (a shed for storing wood) do not transparently suggest punishment. This is an idiomatic, partly regional expression (commonly 'take someone to the woodshed') whose punitive sense is unpredictable for a B1 learner who only knows the individual words.
Etymology
Trip to the woodshed comes from times when parents or teachers would take someone on a short trip to the private woodshed to give a quick punishment or scolding. One popular story says that this clear image of a private, telling-off visit is why the phrase now means 'an occasion when someone is punished or strongly reprimanded, often privately'.