woke up and smelt the coffee

Verb

wake up and smell the coffee (third-person singular simple present wakes up and smells the coffee, present participle waking up and smelling the coffee, simple past woke up and smelled the coffee or woke up and smelt the coffee, past participle woken up and smelled the coffee or woken up and smelt the coffee)

1. (Philippines, US, idiomatic, informal) Often in the infinitive or imperative: to face reality and stop deluding oneself.
   • Your paper gains "notice" as an example of the use of English as it should not be written nor spoken. Wake up and smell the coffee.1927 June 4, Purist [pseudonym], “Smelling the coffee [letter]”, in John S[hivley] Knight, editor, Akron Beacon Journal, number 157, Akron, Oh.: Beacon Journal Co., →OCLC, page 4, column 5

   Synonyms:

   open one's eyes, take the hint, wake up and smell the ashes, wake up and smell the decaf, wake up and smell the roses