Giving Out
To scold, complain, grumble, or reprimand. Followed by 'to' (a person) or 'about' (a topic). 'Giving out to him' is telling him off; 'giving out about the weather' is complaining about it. A regular feature of Hiberno-English, not slang.
Etymology
A calque from Irish 'tabhair amach' - literally 'give out' - which in Irish carries the sense of scolding or complaining. Hiberno-English took the whole construction across the language line: same verb, same preposition, same meaning. The standard English 'to give out' meaning to distribute is unrelated and never produces confusion in Irish-language-aware company.
In a sentence
Giving out to him the whole time. - Anne Emery, Obit: A Mystery
always giving out about her too-tight size twelve jeans - Fiona O'Brien, Without Him
don't be always giving out - Christy Brown, Down All the Days
Historical notes
Giving out has its own register of intensifiers in Hiberno-English: 'giving out stink', 'giving out yards', 'giving out to high heaven', 'giving out the pay'. Each makes the giving-out larger. The phrase is unmissable in Irish writing across the twentieth century - Christy Brown, Anne Emery, Claire Keegan, Kevin Barry, Fiona O'Brien have all reached for it - and it is now common enough in Irish print that it travels with no explanation to non-Irish readers, who can usually catch it from context.
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Hiberno-English' (vocabulary section): 'Give out – Verb – Tabhair amach – Tell off, reprimand'. · other
- Carey, Stan. 'Giving out, Irish style.' Sentence First, 7 September 2013. · other