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I often hear people say
你给我放聪明点
or
你给我放老实点
I understand 放 usually means to place or to release, but in this context it is really confusing. Do people mean to place things clever or honest in the speaker?
Another example is 放肆. The 放 is hard to understand.
放老实点 means put in a honest way. Similarly, 放聪明点 means put in a wise way.
放肆 means your behavior cross the line people just can not tolerate. it's kind of talk-down.
放 is such a common word that it can be used in lots of circumstances. There will be a lot of meaning you will get from a dictionary.
For example, 放鞭炮，放牛，放纵，放荡，绽放， 放 in these phrases means differently.
'放 usually means to place or to release' your consider is right, but 放肆 can’t split，because 放肆 is a entirety, for example 你太放肆了, translate to english you are realy lack of courtesy.
about 你给我放聪明点 or 你给我放老实点，放 expression to rebuke,
