jemandem aufs Dach steigen
to take someone to task; to come down hard on someone
Origin
The phrase goes back to a medieval shaming custom: a man who had forfeited his standing as head of the household had his roof torn off by neighbours to publicly shame him. (Widely cited, though not entirely certain in detail.)
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Genitive preposition 'mittels' (by means of)Genitivpräposition 'mittels'
- Recipient passive (bekommen/kriegen passive)Rezipientenpassiv (bekommen/kriegen-Passiv)
- Concessive connector 'obschon' (although)Konzessivkonnektor 'obschon'
- Adversative and restrictive connectors (elevated)Konnektoren des Gegensatzes und der Einschränkung (gehoben)
- Irregular verbs: e → ie (sehen, lesen)Unregelmäßige Verben: e → ie (sehen, lesen)
- Genitive (introduction: des/der + -s)Genitiv (Einführung: des/der + -s)
Examples
Wenn du nicht erledigst, steigt dir der aufs .
If you don't get your work done, the boss will soon come down hard on you.