telling-to

• telling to

telling (“past participle of tell”) +‎ to

telling-to (plural tellings-to)

1. (informal) A reprimand, reproach, or lecture.
   • 2011 December 30, James III Brokaw, Waiting for War‎, Hedgie Press, →ISBN, page 97:

     We all watched the reaction, as Sergeant Rich received a good telling to.

   • 2016 July 8, Judith Woods, “'Red boxes are very much banned from the bedroom'”, in The Daily Telegraph‎, London, retrieved 6 October 2019:

     I suspect the Tories are desperate for a good telling to from someone like May who has authority and energy – and great optimism about the future, albeit expressed in more measured tones than her rather more hyperbolic rival.

• (reprimand): telling off

• ill-gotten