burn someone down—(U.S. coll.) humiliate a person:
- You just want to burn down everybody to make yourself seem better.
burn someone up—(U.S. coll.)
1. irritate smb. or make very angry:
- What burns me up is the fact that seven per cent of all the families earned $500 a year or less.
2. reprimand or scold a person severely:
- The manager burned Jim up yesterday for being late again.
Note: Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase burn someone out—(U.S. coll.) tire smb. greatly; cause a person to stop being active:
- An extra effort has burned him out and left him no time to seek more interesting work.
See also: build a fire under someone / burn someone at the stake.