read someone the riot act

Etymology
From read the Riot Act. See sense 2. The Riot Act is a historical British Act of Parliament enacted in 1714, which stated that once a statutory warning was read out to rioters and they failed to disperse within one hour, then authorities may use any force to disperse them with impunity.

Verb

 * 1)  To scold or berate somebody; to reprimand.
 * She really read him the riot act about his smoking habit.
 * 1)  To give a formal warning for a riotous assembly to disperse, usually through reading a section of the.

Synonyms

 * See also Thesaurus:reprehend

Translations

 * Dutch: iemand de les lezen
 * Finnish: lukea madonluvut
 * French: ,
 * German: die Leviten lesen
 * Italian: dare una lavata di capo,
 * Russian: устро́ить головомойку
 * Spanish:, cantar las cuarenta,