Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To pull someone by the ear: To physically take hold of a person's ear and pull on it, typically as a form of punishment, reprimand, or to forcefully lead them somewhere.
   • To reprimand or punish severely: Used figuratively to describe the act of scolding, disciplining, or giving someone a severe talking-to.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Bố mẹ có thể xách tai đứa trẻ hư. (Parents might pull a naughty child by the ear.)
  • Giám đốc xách tai nhân viên vì sai sót nghiêm trọng. (The director gave the employee a severe reprimand for a serious mistake.)
  • Thầy giáo nổi giận, định xách tai cậu học sinh. (The teacher got angry and intended to pull the student by the ear.)

Advanced Usage

• The action is often associated with authority figures (parents, teachers, bosses) disciplining someone of lower status or power (children, students, subordinates).
• It implies a forceful, humiliating, and sometimes public act of correction.

Variants and Related Words

• Kéo tai (v): A less common, more literal synonym meaning to pull the ear.
• Mắng mỏ (v): To scold or tell off (does not involve physical action).
• Trừng phạt (v): To punish.

Synonyms

• To drag by the ear: To pull someone along by the ear.
• To haul someone over the coals: To reprimand severely (figurative idiom).
• To discipline physically: To punish using physical means.

Related Idioms

• Xách tai lôi đi: To drag someone off by the ear; emphasizes the action of leading someone away forcefully.
  • Nó làm ồn trong thư viện và bị bảo vệ xách tai lôi đi. (He was noisy in the library and was dragged off by the ear by the guard.)