Give someone grief
verb phrase
To make difficulties for someone; harass; hassle: Don’t let the prof give you any grief about this/ though she gave me heat about it not being ”man’s work” (1920s+)
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- Give someone heart failure
Frighten or startle someone very much, as in You nearly gave me heart failure when you told me you were quitting . It is also put as have heart failure , meaning “be frightened or startled,” as in I just about had heart failure when I heard about her accident . These hyperbolic terms allude […]
- Give someone his or her due
see under give credit , def. 2.
- Give someone his or her head
Also, let someone have his or her head. Allow someone to proceed as he or she wishes, give someone freedom. For example, He usually gave his assistant his head when it came to scheduling appointments, or Sometimes it’s wise for parents to let a teenager have his head. This expression alludes to loosening a horse’s […]
- Give someone his rights
verb phrase To inform an arrested person formally of his or her legal rights, esp by reading him or her a ”Miranda card” detailing them: The judge threw it out because they hadn’t given the crook his rights [1960s+; fr the requirement based on the Supreme Court decision in the Miranda case of 1966]
- Give someone his walking papers
verb phrase (Variation: running shoes or walking ticket may replace walking papers) To dismiss or discharge; reject: If he doesn’t stop seeing other women she’ll give him his walking papers/ When he objected to the new policy they gave him his running shoes (entry form 1825+)