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I've just learnt on another post that starting a sentence with «с чего» serves to set an unfriendly and rhetorical tone. So I was wondering if I could say something like:

И с чего ты взяла, что можешь мне указывать?

{with the meaning of}: Where do you get off telling me what to do?!

In English, the phrase "Where do you get off ..." comes in handy when you want to sharply reply to a remark that you find rude, uncalled for.

Does the use of «с чего» fit the bill? If not, how do Russian speakers commonly express this idea?

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(I just learned an English phrase Where do you get off)

In the Multitran however it's translated differently, which is supported by the Urban dictionary

Perhaps the more accurate parallel of the Russian expression would be

Where do/did you get this idea of having the right to give me orders?

In Multitran

Whatever gave you the idea that...?

What made you think that...?

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  • As long as you have the idea of "having the right" in mind, how about "Who are you to tell me what to do?"? Aug 11, 2018 at 18:45
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    this one has its own Russian counterpart кто ты такая, (чтобы) мне указывать?! it's more hostile, or in a yet more galling version кем ты себя возомнила мне указывать?! = who do you think you are to ... Aug 11, 2018 at 19:04
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"С чего" is sharp but is considered unliterary, too. (Arguably) better would be to use literary "а почему ..." (slightly less emotional) or "да почему ..." (more emotional), which are of almost equal sharpness, and literary in the bargain.

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