a wake-up call

(American & Australian)

an event that warns someone that they need to deal with an urgent or dangerous problem (often + to do sth) The 1971 earthquake was a wake-up call to strengthen the city's bridges. (often + to ) The World Trade Center bombing has served as a wake-up call to the FBI on terrorism.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
EufÊMia	-	Portuguese
Olubunmi	-	Western African, Yoruba
Ciro	CHEE-ro (Italian), THEE-ro (Spanish), SEE-ro (Latin American Spanish)	Italian, Spanish
Nogah	-	Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew
Ferdie	FUR-dee	English
Devereux	DEV-ə-ro	English (Rare)