teach

[show/teach/tell etc.] someone a thing or two

know a thing or two - to have a lot of practical skills and knowledge learnt through experience. Julie - now she could teach you a thing or two about dealing with men. (usually + about)

See also: show, tell, thing, two

teach someone a lesson

to punish someone so that they will not behave badly again. The next time she's late, go without her. That should teach her a lesson.

See also: lesson

teach your grandmother to suck eggs (British & Australian)

to give advice to someone about a subject that they already know more about than you. You're teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, Ted. I've been playing this game since before you were born!

See also: egg, suck

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

something that you say which means it is difficult to make someone change the way they do something when they have been doing it the same way for a long time. You're never going to teach your father at the age of 79 to use a computer. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, you know.

See also: can't, dog, new, old, trick

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teach (someone) a lesson

to show what should not be done. You would think that losing her job because she took too much time off would have taught her a lesson, but it's happened again! He had this idea that the government is evil and must be taught a lesson, so he blew up a government office.

See also: lesson

teach school

to instruct students in a school. Buller left journalism to teach school, and he wrote several books about his experiences.

See also: school