To tear a strip off someone
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As Harp and Robin explain in this episode, to tear a strip off someone, is to get very upset at them and to express that emotion in a very harsh and angry way. This could involve yelling or screaming, or just very angry, mean words.
As you can imagine, literally getting a strip torn off you would be a very painful experience. Getting a strip torn off you in the idiomatic sense is often very painful in an emotional way!
Other related idioms we talk about in this episode are
-To chew someone out
-To give someone a piece of your mind
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| Harp: | Just last week, I was taking the bus and I was waiting at the bus stop, minding my own business, when all of a sudden this couple came to the bus stop, and she was very angry, very, very angry and she just started yelling at him, she was tearing a strip off him. |
| Robin: | So the guy’s girlfriend was yelling at him. What was she yelling at him about? |
| Harp: | Apparently he was cheating on her and she just found out. |
| Robin: | OK. That’s not a conversation that you like to be having in public. |
| Harp: | At all, ever, but in public would make it worse. |
Podcast/ Lipservice, Photo: Culips ESL Podcast
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