on the raw
English
[edit]Adverb
[edit]on the raw (not comparable)
- On exposed flesh; (chiefly figuratively), in such a way as to affect someone deeply or in a sensitive area. [from 19th c.]
- 1915, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 18, in Of Human Bondage:
- He was developing a sense of humour, and found that he had a knack of saying bitter things, which caught people on the raw […] .
- 1926, Arnold Bennett, Lord Raingo:
- What got 'im on the raw was Tommy Hogarth going against 'im in that business.