call names

Idioms  

1. Verbally abuse someone, use offensive epithets, as in The teacher told the children to stop calling names. This idiom was first recorded in the late 1600s but Shakespeare used a similar expression earlier in Richard III (1:3): “That thou hadst called me all these bitter names.”

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Example Sentences

“Everyone else you call names and mistreat and then falsely claim you are a victim…@pmddomingos.”

From The Verge

"So that's who you are dealing with. You cannot listen to these people call names anymore. I think the average Americans get very jarred when they hear these nasty terms, which are meant to silence you."

From Salon

"They weren't abusive and they didn't call names," the fourth alum recalled.

From Fox News

“Democrats just point fingers, call names and keep blocking American families from getting any more help before the November election,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday on the Senate floor.

From Fox News

“They call names, they deny, but they’re not willing to face up to what the real facts are,” Mr. Bolton said.

From Washington Times