curtain lecture

American  

noun

1. Older Use. a scolding administered in private by a wife to her husband.

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curtain lecture British  

noun

1. a scolding or rebuke given in private, esp by a wife to her husband

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Etymology

Origin of curtain lecture

First recorded in 1625–35

Example Sentences

Had Primgate wanted to paint her at that particular moment I should have suggested Katherine—during the earlier stages—listening to a curtain lecture from Petruchio.

From They and I by Jerome, Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka)

Then he added aloud, "A hurried journey on business, we will call it, a sudden journey on business, preceded by a little curtain lecture."

From Gertrude's Marriage by Heimburg, W.

‘You gave him a curtain lecture, did you?’

From The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Brontë, Anne

She did not appear at breakfast, and after that meal Mr. Stuart paid Christie her wages with a solemnity which proved that he had taken a curtain lecture to heart.

From Work: a Story of Experience by Alcott, Louisa May

The tintinnabulations of the wife's curtain lecture are too precious to the enraptured husband to be shared with other ears.

From Gov. Bob. Taylor's Tales by Taylor, Robert L.