Just to recap the relevant parts of the Duden and DWDS entries:
Duden under: Wendungen, Redensarten, Sprichwörter
jemanden in die/seine Schranken weisen/verweisen (jemanden zur Mäßigung auffordern)
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Schranke
(my bold)
DWDS as per MiMo in post #1:
a) jmdn. in seine Schranken weisen = jmdn. zur Mäßigung ermahnen
b) jmdn. in die, seine Schranken verweisen = jmdn. darauf hinweisen, dazu zwingen, dass er die ihm gesetzten Schranken einhält, beachtet
manni (#5), eastwold (#6) and lingua franca (#7), thank you.
You find in die Schranken verweisen strange or unusual because you generally hear or read in die Schranken weisen instead? So do I, by the way, but I assume the version with verweisen must be acceptable because it's listed in legitimate dictionaries.
I started this thread because I'd noticed the verweisen version a few times recently. It could be that I simply didn't register it before because, in the right context, my brain often stops paying attention and just skips ahead to what I expect to hear or read - in this case weisen.
Nevertheless, my observation that there are two versions of the same expression with basically the same meaning makes me wonder what the reason(s) for that could be, for example:
Sprachwandel
Sprachebene
one version is new
some C celebrity made a mistake and now people are copying him/her. :-)
So, if you think of a plausible explanation, I would love to hear it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For all you ver-fanatics:
Of all the German verb prefixes, "ver-" is the most unpredictable and thus the most fascinating - in my humble opinion. I therefore set you the following challenge:
Please arrange the verbs listed below in groups based on the function of the prefix "ver-".
verfolgen
verwechseln
verprügeln
sich verzählen
verkaufen
versagen
verrücken
vertilgen
verhauen
verpacken
verdunsten
versperren
vertreiben
verspotten
verklingen
verheiraten
verführen
vergöttern
verzerren
verarmen
verholzen
verbieten
verbluten
verdeutlichen
verschließen
verfolgen
verschwinden
verschlafen
PS No peeking in dictionaries, grammar books, etc.