send someone down—(coll.)
1. dismiss a student from a university:
- He escaped prosecution because of his family background but he was sent down from the University.
2. (also: send someone down the river) send a person to prison:
- The last case was about a plumber who charged a pensioner ￡2,000 to do a job that other plumbers said was worth ￡50. They sent him down for two years.
send someone up—
1. (UK coll.) make fun of a person:
- Much British humor consists in sending up the customs and leading figures of the country.
2. (also: send someone up the river) = send someone down 2:
- He did a lot of breaking and entering before the judge sent him up about fifteen years ago.
Note: The expression is not related in meaning to the phrase send someone flying—trip or hit a person causing him to fall:
- I gave him a great, big shove that sent him flying into the pile of wood at the back of the garage.