bang to rights

English

Alternative forms

• banged to rights

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Etymology 1

From reinterpretation of bang (“completely”) + to rights (“properly”).

Phrase

bang to rights

1. (British) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: bang (adverb), to rights.
   • 2004, Brian S. McWilliams, Spam Kings, O’Reilly Media, published 2005, →ISBN, page 69:

     Once, after a spammer trolled Nanae, accusing antis of having no life, Mad Pierre sarcastically responded that the spammer was correct. ¶ “Damn, you’ve got us bang to rights. We have no lives. None. At all.”

   • 2007, Neil Pearson, Obelisk: A History of Jack Kahane and the Obelisk Press, page 479:

     Tyler tries to dismiss Vidal's characterization of him as a pseudo-intellectual buffoon, but succeeds only in demonstrating that Vidal had him bang to rights.

   • 2008, James Buchan, The gate of air:

     He wished he were in London, where a girl in a minicab would set him bang to rights.

2. (British, idiomatic) Red-handed.

Synonyms

• dead to rights

Etymology 2

From reinterpretation of bang (“completely”) as bang (“to handle noisily or violently”).

Verb

bang to rights (third-person singular simple present bangs to rights, present participle banging to rights, simple past and past participle banged to rights)

1. (rare, British, idiomatic) To have sufficient, indisputable evidence that a person's actions are generally perceived to be wrong; to catch red-handed.
   • 2006, Planning, numbers 1650-1666, page 8:

     I am as intent on banging them all to rights as the next bleeding heart middle-class liberal, but take a look at the record so far.

   • 2007 May 26, The Week, 615, 6:

     Good week for: Cyclists, after Britain's most prolific bicycle thief was banged to rights.

   • 2009 February 4, “Batman turns air blue in Terminator tantrum”, in Belfast Telegraph:

     His alter-ego Batman utters nothing more provocative than the occasional “holy smoke” as he bangs adversaries to rights

   • 2010, Peter James, Dead Simple:

     He'd been untouchable for the past decade, but now Roy Grace had finally banged him to rights.

See also

• fair cop