What It Actually Means to ‘Read the Riot Act’ to Someone

(via Atlas Obscura)  When someone talks about being “read the riot act,” it usually means they’ve been caught engaging in antisocial behavior and chastised accordingly. But it’s not just a quirky idiom—the origin of the phrase comes from a real Riot Act designed to quell discord. And it had to be read, out loud, in order to take effect.