They resent the use of scare tactics, and do not like to be spoken down to.

He stopped in the doorway and spoke down the hall.

I'm speaking down a hole that must somehow lead into your cave.

Well enough to catch words spoken down forty feet of corridor?

Before leaving, he turned, raised his chin, and spoke down his nose.

"She has a very easy way about her, and you don't feel she's speaking down to you at all."

I say, have you heard that fellow speak down at the Egyptian Hall?

He did not address people as equals but spoke down to them.

"Ninety-five percent of the time I feel most kids are spoken down to."

Instead, it just speaks down to them and the rest of us.