bang to rights
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English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Etymology 1
From reinterpretation of bang (“completely”) + to rights (“properly”).
Phrase
- (British, idiomatic) red-handed
- (British) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bang (adverb), to rights.
- 2007, Neil Pearson, Obelisk: A History of Jack Kahane and the Obelisk Press, page 479:
- Tyler tries to dismiss Vidal's characterization of him as a pseudo-intellectual buffoon, but succeeds only in demonstrating that Vidal had him bang to rights.
- 2008, James Buchan, The gate of air:
- He wished he were in London, where a girl in a minicab would set him bang to rights.
Synonyms
Etymology 2
From reinterpretation of bang (“completely”) as bang (“to handle noisily or violently”).
Verb
bang to rights (third-person singular simple present bangs to rights, present participle banging to rights, simple past and past participle banged to rights)
- (rare, British, idiomatic) To have sufficient, indisputable evidence that a person's actions are generally perceived to be wrong; to catch red-handed.
- 2006, Planning, numbers 1650–1666, page 8:
- I am as intent on banging them all to rights as the next bleeding heart middle-class liberal, but take a look at the record so far.
- 2007 May 26, The Week, 615, 6:
- Good week for: Cyclists, after Britain's most prolific bicycle thief was banged to rights.
- 2009 February 4, “Batman turns air blue in Terminator tantrum”, in Belfast Telegraph:
- His alter-ego Batman utters nothing more provocative than the occasional “holy smoke” as he bangs adversaries to rights
- 2010, Peter James, Dead Simple:
- He'd been untouchable for the past decade, but now Roy Grace had finally banged him to rights.