взять за бока

• (БРАТЬ/ВЗЯТЬ) ЗА БОКА кого highly coll

[VP (with subj: human) or PrepP (used as predic, often as imper)]

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1. to censure, blame s.o., holding him responsible for sth. he has done wrong:

- X взял Y-а за бока{{}}≈ X called Y to account;

- X had Y on the carpet;

- X took Y to task.

2. to compel, force s.o. to do sth.:

- X взял Y-а за бока{{}}≈ X put (turned) the heat on Y;

- X put the screws on Y;

- X strong-armed Y;

- X twisted Y's arm;

- X put pressure on Y.

     ♦ [Авдотья Назаровна:] Шутка ли, с пяти часов сижу, а она [Зинаида Савишна] хоть бы ржавою селёдкой попотчевала!.. [1-й гость:] ...Со скуки да с голоду волком завоешь и людей грызть начнёшь... [Авдотья Назаровна:] Пойдём поищем, что ли... [1-й гость:] Тсс!.. Потихоньку! Шнапс, кажется, в столовой, в буфете стоит. Мы Егорушку за бока... Тсс!.. (Чехов 4). [A.N.:] It's no joke, I've been sitting here since five o'clock, and she [Zinaida Savishna] hasn't offered me so much as a piece of moldy herring!... [First Guest:] ... I'm so bored and hungry, I could howl like a wolf and start gnawing on someone. ... [A.N.:] Let's go and see if we can find - [First Guest:] Sh!...Quietly. I think there's some schnapps on the sideboard in the dining room. We'll put the screws on Yegorushka. ...Sh!... (4a).

     ♦ Не приехал бы некий Виктор в гости к брату, тот не выпил бы лишку и не умер, тётя Глаша не отдала бы иконы, Гартвиг их не привёз бы, Нюра не стала бы просить старую икону в больницу как раз в тот момент, когда приятели Кирилла взяли его за бока, и не случилось бы всего остального... (Трифонов 5). If a certain Viktor hadn't come to visit his brother, the brother wouldn't have drunk too much and died, Aunt Glasha wouldn't have given up her ikons, Gartvig wouldn't have brought them to us, Nyura wouldn't have started asking for the old ikon in the hospital just at the moment when Kirill's friends were putting pressure on him, and none of the rest would have happened... (5a).