Use have it out for frank conflict-settling talk, especially with with before the person involved.
Use have it out for frank conflict-settling talk, especially with with before the person involved.
Dropping out or using the idiom for a relaxed chat weakens the meaning.
The exact origin is not firmly explained by the sources. Dictionary.com records early nineteenth-century use, including Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby in 1839.
What does have it out mean?
Have it out means to talk about a disagreement openly and directly so it can be settled.
Is have it out always angry?
Have it out often suggests anger or tension, but the main idea is frank discussion that brings the conflict into the open.
What preposition follows have it out?
Use with for the person, as in have it out with her, and about or over for the issue.
Can have it out mean a normal conversation?
No. Have it out is for a dispute, grievance, or hard confrontation, not a casual chat.
When was have it out first recorded?
Dictionary.com places the idiom in early nineteenth-century English and cites Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby from 1839.