spare the rod

But Biden’s not a kid, and I’m not here to spare the rod.

In a more recent New York Times essay, writer Maud Newton said that she associated the word with her father, who "defended slavery, demanded the subservience of women and adhered to 'spare the rod and spoil the child.'"

No man is a hero to his valet, the saying goes, and Gates does not spare the rod.

“This is what happens,” Aimee sighed, “When you spare the rod.”

The old “spare the rod” nonsense is draconian, in our view.