give someone what for

See also: give someone what-for

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

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Verb

give someone what for

1. (idiomatic, slang) To punish; to rebuke.
   • 2007, Wilbur Smith, The Sound of Thunder, page 135:

     She gave him what for all right. But you could see she was ever so pleased and she went around telling everybody about it.

   • 2002, Joss Whedon, "The Ballad of Jayne Cobb" in "Jaynestown", Firefly.

     He robbed from the rich, and he gave to the poor / Stood up to The Man and he gave him what for.

   • 1912, Edward Burke, Bachelor's Buttons: The Candid Confessions of a Shy Bachelor, page 133:

     ... 'e gived 'em up, an' repented somethin' horrid — there still bein' the buns to come — but Miss Soapy she gave 'im what- for-proper, she did!

Quotations

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:give someone what for.

Synonyms

• give someone a piece of one's mind
• let someone have it

Translations

to punish or rebuke

• Czech: dát někomu co proto (cs), dát někomu na frak, natrhnout někomu sako
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}