English, baby!

chew out

Date: Nov 09 2000

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

Interviewer: “So is it safe to say you always get what you want?”
Shaq: “No. One day I was kind of lazy working out and Jerry West (Shaq’s boss) called me into his office, and he chewed me out bad.”

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

to reprimand, yell angrily at a person because of wrongdoing, tell someone in a harsh way what they did wrong

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

“Chew out” is most often used in regard to work or sports. Bosses and coaches are most often the people who “chew out” others.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

“I spilled my boss’s coffee this morning and he chewed me out for about 15 minutes. It was terrible.”

“Coach Johnson chewed out his players after they lost the game by 44 points.”

“I missed my curfew last night and my dad got really mad at me. He chewed me out and told me I couldn’t go to Michelle’s birthday party this Friday.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

I think the meaning is to scold somebody, to reprimand (like e.g. boss reprimands his employee), to bawl out, to tell off. Something like that.
by Nataly (Chelyabinsk, Urals, Russia)
I think the expression “to chew some out” means “to reprimand them severely.” So, when our basketball legend’s boss chewed him out, the boss said a lot of unpleasant things about the legend. He probably got angry with it.
by Eric (Chinhae, Kyungsangnamdo, South Korea)
If we get angry a person a lot and if we are responsible for him/her, sometimes we can show this anger with shouting and warning. In other words,we can chew him/her out. In my opinion, “chew out” means “rebuke”.
by Hayrettin (Ankara, Turkey)
Well, i think that means to scold, to criticize, right?
by Lynn (Siping, Jalin, China)
To reprimand, to rebuke. Shaq’s honcho gave a good tellin’ -off, for been so lazy durin’ the workout session. In spanish slang: “Hechar un puro, Jerry me hechó un puro”
by Edu (Borriana, Pais Valencià, Spain)
I think the “chew out” means to talk angrily to someone in order to show them that you disapprove of what they have done.
by Zm (Changchun, Jilin, China)
I think it means to criticize harshly and angrily.
by Kate (Tel Aviv, Israel)

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