give someone the wire brush

give someone the wire brush
 v. phr.— «Giving someone the wire brush means chewing them out, typically in a public way that’s demeaning to their stature.» —“Donald Rumsfeld: Old Man in a Hurry” by Thomas P.M. Barnett RealClearPolitics Aug. 31, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

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