sock it to (one)
sock it to (one)
1. To attack or compete against someone in a very strong or forceful manner. Wow, Jim really socked it to that guy. I didn't know he was that tough! Sock it to them, guys! I know you can beat them!
2. By extension, to deliver news or information to someone that will have a very large impact or effect. A: "I don't think you're going to like these financial results." B: "Sock it to me, I'm ready."
See also: sock
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
sock it to someone
1. to punch someone; to punch one's fist at someone. Max really socked it to Lefty! Lefty socked it to Roger and knocked him down.
2. to tell bad news to someone in a straightforward manner. I can take it. sock it to me! I don't care how bad it seems. sock it to me!
See also: sock
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
sock it to
Deliver a physical blow, forceful comment, or reprimand to, as in The judge often socks it to the jury in a murder case. This idiom uses sock in the sense of "strike hard." It is also put as an imperative, as in Sock it to them, kid! or Sock it to me!, which is sometimes used to give encouragement but can also have sexual overtones. [Second half of 1800s]
See also: sock
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
sock it to someone
INFORMALIf you sock it to someone, you say or do something to them in a very forceful way. Every time you go against your old team, you want to sock it to them. She's great and really socks it to her co-star Bill Irwin.
See also: sock, someone
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
sock it to someone
attack someone vigorously or make a forceful impression on them in some other way. informal 1991 Baseball Today Chicago socked it to the other teams in the American league.
See also: sock, someone
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
ˈsock it to somebody
(informal or humorous) do something or tell somebody something in a strong and effective way: Go in there and sock it to ’em!See also: sock, somebody
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
Sock it to me!
exclam. Come on, let me have it! (Refers to bad news.) Come on! I can take it. Sock it to me!
See also: sock
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
sock it to (someone)
Slang To deliver a forceful comment, reprimand, or physical blow to someone else.
See also: sock
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
sock it to them
Give them all you’ve got; strike the final blow. This expression dates from Mark Twain’s day, and indeed he used it in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889). The Yankee (narrator) is describing an argument over comparative prices and salary and says, “I prepared, now, to sock it to him. I said: ‘Look here, dear friend, what’s become of your high wages you were bragging about?’” Although old, the term did not gain wide currency until the 1960s, when a version of it appeared on a popular television show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Put as sock it to me!, it apparently came from jazz slang and meant “liven things up.” The speaker then encountered a bucket of water over the head, a blow, or some similar attack. Incidentally, the colloquial verb to sock, meaning to strike, dates from about 1700, and its ultimate origin has been lost.
See also: sock
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- sock it to
- Sock it to me!
- sock it to somebody
- sock it to someone
- sock it to them
- sock
- sock (someone) one
- knock someone’s socks off
- socked
- push against