How can I use "dish out" or "dish it out" in sentences?
These phrases can be used literally or figuratively. Literally, you can say:
I dished out the Jell-O at the party.(This sentence could also be "I dished up the Jell-O at the party.")
As an idiom, you can use it to mean "to give out something a little too freely or easily." This idiom has limited usage--it is usually used when referring to what someone says.
Tom likes to dish out advice a lot more than he likes to receive it.The boss was dishing out blame left and right at the meeting.
Marianne dished out criticism to everyone on the room. She, of course, excluded herself.
You often here this sentence when talking about someone who likes to criticize but doesn't like to hear about his or her own faults:
Sam can dish it out but he can't take it.
(In this sentence, "it" is "criticism.")
