i'll dust your jacket for you
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Give you a good beating; also used with doublet, trousers, etc., in place of jacket. See quotation from Smollett, under DOUSE IN THE CHOPS.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “i'll dust your jacket for you” mean?
Give you a good beating; also used with doublet, trousers, etc., in place of jacket. See quotation from Smollett, under DOUSE IN THE CHOPS.
Is “i'll dust your jacket for you” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.