Definition
British English 🇬🇧 – “stitch (someone) up”
This phrasal verb means to betray or trick someone, often to make them look bad, feel embarrassed, or get blamed for something.
For example – “My friends stitched me up by convincing me to sing karaoke in front of everyone.”
Clip 1
Peaky Blinders – Season 1 Episode 6 (2013)
In Peaky Blinders Season 1, Episode 6, Polly says, “Thought you could come in here and stitch us up,” because she has discovered that Grace is an undercover agent. Polly feels betrayed since Grace lied about who she was and got close to the family, especially her nephew Tommy, to gather information. Polly sees this as Grace trying to set them up and harm the Shelby family.
Clip 2
The Boys – Season 2 Episode 7 (2020)
Billy Butcher says to his mum, “You gonna stitch me up again?” because she tricked him into meeting his abusive father, who Billy hates, earlier on in the episode. Billy is annoyed at her for deceiving him and putting him into that situation.
Clip 3
Doc Martin – Season 2 Episode 2 (2005)
In Doc Martin Season 2, Episode 2, Louisa says, “I’ll never forgive you for stitching me up,” because she thinks Martin made her look bad by giving a bad reference that cost her getting a job as a headteacher. Martin replies, “I didn’t stitch you up,” because he didn’t mean to sabotage her. Martin’s character is known for making social mistakes. He is socially awkward, blunt, and often unaware of the emotional impact his words and actions have on others. Therefore, he was accidentally overly critical of Louisa when giving the reference.
Clip 4
Vivianne Miedema and Katie McCabe Interview – Arsenal Youtube Channel (2020)
After breaking the WSL goal scoring record, Vivianne Miedema sits down with Katie McCabe to go through some of her best memories and photos from her Arsenal career. In the clip, one of the photos of Miedema is quite unflattering which causes McCabe to joke “Oh, they are stitching you up with this photo,” saying that the producers had chosen that photo deliberately to make Miedema look bad and embarrass her.