tell (one) to (one's) face
tell (one) to (one's) face
To say something directly and unambiguously to one, especially when it is something critical, derogatory, inflammatory, or otherwise negative. A: "Tom's been telling people around the office that you've been slacking lately." B: "If that's the way he feels, why doesn't he come tell me to my face?" I know she spreads a lot of nasty stuff about me behind my back, but she's too cowardly to ever tell me to my face.
See also: face, tell
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
- (one's) heart is set on (something)
- a recipe for disaster
- (one) could use (something)
- (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
- a fast talker
- (one) never would have guessed
- a ghost at the feast
- a blot on the landscape
- a horse of another
- a horse of another color