dare addosso

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to give on (one's person)”.

Verb

dàre addosso (first-person singular present (with syntactic gemination after the verb) dò addosso, first-person singular past historic dièdi addosso or diédi addosso or détti addosso or (traditional) dètti addosso, past participle dàto addosso, first-person singular future darò addosso, first-person singular subjunctive dìa addosso, first-person singular imperfect subjunctive déssi addosso, second-person singular imperative dài addosso or dà' addosso, auxiliary avére)

1. (idiomatic) to criticize; to go after; to lash out against [with a ‘someone’]

   Synonyms: criticare, scagliarsi contro; see also Thesaurus:rimproverare

   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 24, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Ma nel 2010 i gruppi che si battevano per i diritti degli immigrati e degli ispanici ci criticavano perché non facevamo progressi, proprio come ci avevano dato addosso gli attivisti LGBTQ sul DADT.

     But by 2010, immigrant-rights and Latino advocacy groups were criticizing our lack of progress, much the same way LGBTQ activists had gone after us on DADT.

     (literally, “But in 2010, the groups that fought for immigrant and Hispanic rights criticized us because we were not making progress, just in the same way that LGBTQ activists had gone after us on DADT.”)