"If you don't leave me alone I--I shall plant you a facer."--Sister Peters in Amsterdam
fac·er
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1 : one that faces
2 British : a sudden often stunning check or obstacle
Confession: I totally thought that a facer was just slang for punch. It makes plenty of sense to read it the proper way but I'll have to spend my time adjusting myself to the new paradigm. Repeat with us class: All punches are facers but not all facers are punches.
A plucky city girl in America might be more likely to say, "If you don't get your hand off my arm, I'm going to deck you."
It's a toss-up really. You can't fail to understand the meaning either way.
Thank you Betty Keira, I too assumed it was a slap or punch in the face. I always learn something new from your Blog and it only enhances my Betty Neels reading.
ReplyDeleteAddy must have had brothers.
ReplyDeleteI love that Coenraad asks her if she even knows what a 'facer' is! As though his knowledge of idioms is beyond hers. Oh, she knows what a facer is alright...
ReplyDeleteOne of the few troubling habits of La Neels is having her RDDs correct or supply proper English grammar or vocabulary to the English nurses.
ReplyDeleteProfessor van der Hertenzoon, whose native language is English if a colonial version, rarely dares to venture there lest he receive a facer.
Nicely played, Betty JoDee.
ReplyDeleteBetty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteFacer--from the OED (that's Oxford English Dictionary)--c 1810, pugilistic colloq.: Blow to the face.
Later extrapolated to sudden unexpected blow, check or obstacle.
So, for those of us who grew up on Georgette Heyer, Facer=blow to face=we have a winner!!
Bafriva,
ReplyDeleteAdd this for other Regency novels, especially the second example.
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/facer
facer
noun
informal , chiefly British
• a blow to the face: I wish I’d landed him a facer!
• a sudden difficulty: I didn’t know they’d gone ; it’s a bit of a facer, isn’t it?
Betty Anonymous