prendre un savon - French expression

prendre un savon - to be yelled at - Mot du Jour

prendre un savon or se prendre un savon - to take (oneself) a soap. In everyday French, (se) prendre un savon by to be yelled at, to be reprimanded. But, you don’t always have to prendre un savon; you can also donner or passer un savon à quelqu’un : to yell at someone - much better position to be at.

« Il est de mauvaise humeur car il vient de se prendre un savon par sa prof d’anglais. »
- “He is in a bad mood because he was just yelled at by his English teacher.”