"
Dressing down" or "dressing-down" is an English-language
idiom that may refer to:
* An especially severe,
highly formalized, and often public form of military discipline incident to
reduction in rank
Reduction in rank may refer to three separate concepts:
*In military law, a ''reduction in rank'' or ''degradation'' is a demotion in military rank as punishment for a crime or wrongdoing, imposed by a court-martial or other authority. It may be im ...
or, in extreme cases, complete dismissal via the ceremony of
degradation
Degradation may refer to:
Science
* Degradation (geology), lowering of a fluvial surface by erosion
* Degradation (telecommunications), of an electronic signal
* Biodegradation of organic substances by living organisms
* Environmental degradatio ...
(also termed "
cashiering
Cashiering (or degradation ceremony), generally within military forces, is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for a breach of discipline.
Etymology
From the Flemish (to dismiss from service; to discard r ...
," especially when performed upon an officer): To amplify the already-severe punishment inherent in a reduction in rank, the authorities imposing it may confirm it in a ceremony whose form is analogous to that of a promotion ceremony in that its participants remove the uniform's existing rank insignia and replace that insignia with the insignia of the soldier's new, lesser/lower rank; the degradation/cashiering ceremony has traditionally involved stripping both rank insignia and all other military insignia from the uniform.
** By
metonymy from the associated ceremony, the reduction in rank itself.
** Any act of severely reprimanding or scolding someone.
* The wearing of clothes socially regarded as being appropriate for only events
less formal than the occasion at which one is wearing them (contrast antonym "dress
ngup" from which this usage of the idiom is derived by alteration)
** "Dress-down day" (more commonly "
casual day
''Casual Day'' is a 2007 Spanish dark workplace comedy film directed by Max Lemcke. The ensemble cast features Juan Diego, Luis Tosar, Estíbaliz Gabilondo, Arturo Valls, Alberto San Juan, Malena Alterio, Álex Angulo, Carlos Kaniowsky, Secun ...
"), a workday during which the managers of a business formally relax its dress code for the day, usually to a specified degree and pursuant to an announcement made far enough in advance that employees can plan accordingly
**When managers schedule such relaxations at regular intervals as part of the dress code itself, rather than an authorized departure from it, workdays featuring them are widely known as "dress-down
or "casual
" where X is the recurring occasion (''e.g.'', a given weekday, as in "
casual Friday
Casual Friday (also known as dress-down Friday or casual day) is a Western dress code trend in which businesses relax their dress code on Fridays. Businesses that usually require employees to wear suits, dress shirts, neckties, and dress shoes, ...
") with which the relaxation is associated.
See also
;Military:
*
Reduction in rank
Reduction in rank may refer to three separate concepts:
*In military law, a ''reduction in rank'' or ''degradation'' is a demotion in military rank as punishment for a crime or wrongdoing, imposed by a court-martial or other authority. It may be im ...
:*
Military degradation
Cashiering (or degradation ceremony), generally within military forces, is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for a breach of discipline.
Etymology
From the Flemish (to dismiss from service; to discard ...
;Social/corporate:
*
Casual day
''Casual Day'' is a 2007 Spanish dark workplace comedy film directed by Max Lemcke. The ensemble cast features Juan Diego, Luis Tosar, Estíbaliz Gabilondo, Arturo Valls, Alberto San Juan, Malena Alterio, Álex Angulo, Carlos Kaniowsky, Secun ...
:*
Casual Friday(s)
;In literature and popular culture
*
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
's poem ''
Danny Deever
"Danny Deever" is an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling, one of the first of the Barrack-Room Ballads. It received wide critical and popular acclaim, and is often regarded as one of the most significant pieces of Kipling's early verse. The poem, a ba ...
'', whose title figure is subjected to the British version of the military degradation ceremony before being executed for the homicide of a fellow soldier
References
{{Reflist
English-language idioms