have one's head read
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
[edit]have one's head read (third-person singular simple present has one's head read, present participle having one's head read, simple past and past participle had one's head read)
- (dated) To have the bumps, indentations, and shape of one's skull examined and interpreted by a phrenologist.
- 1931 January 1, “Pain stays in head after $8,500 "cure"”, in Deseret News, retrieved 29 April 2013, page 3:
- He told the police that he went to a couple of "phrenologists" to have his head read with the idea of getting rid of the pain in his stomach.
- 2005 January 26, William Grimes, “The Brain: False Assumptions and Cruel Operations”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 April 2013:
- In the summer of 1849, Walt Whitman walked into an office on Nassau Street in Manhattan to have his head read. Lorenzo Niles Fowler, a phrenologist, palpated 35 areas on both sides of the skull corresponding to emotional or intellectual capacities in the brain.
- (idiomatic) To have one's mental health assessed, to receive a psychiatric examination.
- Synonym: have one's head examined
- 1957 January 30, Pete Pederson, “Spinney's Win Baffles Turf Experts”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 29 April 2013, page C4:
- "A guy who thinks he gets smart in this horse-race game oughta have his head read."
- 1959 March 22, “Dear Abby: It's Bird-Bee Time”, in Milwaukee Sentinel, retrieved 29 April 2013, page 4D:
- She is not crazy so don't tell me to take her to a doctor to have her head read.
- 2010 August 16, Tony Karon, “Bush left the White House but what else has changed?”, in lebanonwire.com, retrieved 29 April 2013:
- Mr Gibbs says those who think Mr Obama is like George W Bush need to “have their heads read”.
Usage notes
[edit]- Usually used in this passive-voice form, although passive variants do occur, such as:
- 2010 April 19, Wayne Smith, “Quade Cooper must look at big picture before selling out”, in The Australian, retrieved 29 April 2013:
- Quade Cooper needs his head read if he thinks mere money will compensate him for what he would lose if he walked out on Queensland.