:) 下马威。。。is very good 成语!哈:( they all get scared:)
I think this idiom can be used this way....but secretly, by the teacher who really had some heckles( the Dutch use this word for the one who had an issue with the other one and beared in mind...how to say in English?) with students.. since they were definitetly very naughty , difficult to be desciplined, those trouble makers in the class. I think he / she could be thinking this way....However, teacher as a profession has been so highly regarded in Chinese culture, and most of the teachers are so very professional that even they felt so, they are not allowed to have this idea:) but maybe this state should be transfered to...a special way of educating, coatching. As the biggest teacher in our history , the Confusious said, to do the 因材施教 thing:)