Evelyn in Wilmington, North Carolina, says that when she and her older sister were sassy to their parents, her mother would say either You’re getting too big for your britches or I’m going to bring you down a buttonhole lower. The former makes sense, but what about the latter? The expression bring you down a buttonhole lower goes back some 500 years, and even Shakespeare used the version take you a button-hole lower. This is part of a complete episode.
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