hairdryer treatment en · NOUN
Etymology
From hairdryer + treatment (the image being of shouting at someone so close to their face that your hot breath could dry their hair).
Meanings
-
a confrontation where someone stands very close to a subordinate and lambasts them very loudly.
He insists Wilkinson's hairdryer treatment did the trick. He...points out, 'When I got back in, I stayed in.'.
2013, Dave Simpson, The Last Champions, Random House, →ISBN, page 57:2013, John Prescott, Ed Miliband is Labour's Alex Ferguson and he needs to give any slacking ministers the hairdryer treatment, in Mirror online, 20 Aug 2013, If Shadow Cabinet members aren’t pulling their weight, give them the hairdryer treatment and kick ’em out.
Of course, sometimes the hairdryer treatment can be taken with a pinch of salt.
2004, Gaynor Morgan, The Real David Beckham: An Intimate Biography, John Blake, →ISBN, page 52:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| hairdryer treatments | Number=Plur | lexicographic |