rake over the coals

rake someone over the coals and haul someone over the coals

Fig. to give someone a severe scolding. My mother hauled me over the coals for coming in late last night. The manager raked me over the coals for being late again.

See also: coal, rake

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rake over the coals

to talk about unpleasant things from the past that other people would prefer not to talk about (usually in continuous tenses) There's no point in raking over the coals - all that happened twenty years ago, and there's nothing we can do about it now.

See also: coal, rake