Welcome to English in a Minute.

When we dish out food, we put it on a plate to give to others.

But what does "dish it out but can't take it" mean?

Sometimes Dee really bothers me.

Uh-oh, what happened?

Okay, she joked about your piano playing.

So I joked about her singing.

Bada boom, boom, ba-da-boom.

And she got angry at me.

Oh, so she can dish it out, but she can't take it.

That's it.

Some people insult, joke about, or criticize others.

But they don't like it when people do the same to them.

So we say they can dish it out, but they can't take it.