释义 |
read (one) the riot act read (one) the riot actTo scold, reprimand, or reprove one severely for an error or mistake. I was read the riot act by my boss last week for messing up the accounting software. I know Mary messed up, but there was no need to read her the riot act for it.See also: act, read, riotread someone the riot actFig. to give someone a severe scolding. The manager read me the riot act for coming in late. The teacher read the students the riot act for their failure to do their assignments.See also: act, read, riotread the riot actWarn or reprimand forcefully or severely, as in When he was caught throwing stones at the windows, the principal read him the riot act . This term alludes to an actual British law, the Riot Act of 1714, which required reading a proclamation so as to disperse a crowd; those who did not obey within an hour were guilty of a felony. [First half of 1800s] See also: act, read, riotread (someone) the riot act If someone in authority reads the riot act or reads someone the riot act, they angrily tell someone off for having done something stupid or wrong. I'm glad you read the riot act to Billy. He's still a kid, you know. He still needs to be told what to do. At the weekly cabinet meeting the following day, an enraged Mr Schroder read his ministers the riot act. Note: The Riot Act was a law passed in Britain in 1715. It made it an offence for a group of twelve or more people to refuse to break up and leave if someone in authority read them the relevant section of the Act. See also: act, read, riotread the riot act give someone a strong warning that they must improve their behaviour. The Riot Act was passed by the British government in 1715 in the wake of the Jacobite rebellion of that year and was designed to prevent civil disorder. The Act made it a felony for a group of twelve or more people to refuse to disperse after being ordered to do so and having being read a certain part of the Act by a person in authority. It was not repealed until 1967 .See also: act, read, riotread (somebody) the ˈRiot Act (British English) tell somebody forcefully and angrily that you will punish them if they do not stop behaving badly; be angry with somebody who has behaved badly: The headmaster came in and read the Riot Act. He said he would keep us in after school if there was one more complaint about us.In 1715 the Riot Act was passed in Parliament. Groups of more than twelve people were not allowed to meet in public. If they did, an official came to read them the Riot Act, which ordered them to stop the meeting.See also: act, read, riot read the riot act To warn or reprimand energetically or forcefully: The teacher read the riot act to the rowdy class.See also: act, read, riotread the riot actCriticize harshly. A 1725 British Act of Parliament provided that a magistrate could tell any gathering of a dozen or more people who were creating a civil disturbance to disperse by reading an official statement to that effect. Failure to heed the warning led to arrest (the law remained in effect until 1973). Used popularly, the phrase became the equivalent of “getting a good chewing out,” even if only one person was “read the riot act.”See also: act, read, riot |