[General] do brown

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?

Don’t go to that shop or you’ll be done brown.

do brown = deceive, swindle, cheat, trick

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

 

[birdeen's call]

Done brown - definition of Done brown by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

 

[Tullia]

Correct.

An interesting possibly related phrase exists: doing it (rather) too brown, used to refer to exaggerated statements, usually with the intent of misleading, or paying an exaggerated compliment

I first came across it in the works of Heyer, and it is possibly a Heyerism rather than a genuinely common Regency expression, although a quick search now brought up this as well. I've seen it since occasionally, mostly in similar fictional works attempting to create a Regencyesque atmostphere, and therefore very possibly inspired by Heyer's usage, but in some more modern prose too.

I certainly wouldn't call it a common phrase, and you are unlikely to come across it in conversational usage (athough you never know) but it is rather a nice phrase and I thought you might enjoy hearing about it, vil, since you seem to have a healthy appetitite for unusual idioms.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd never heard it before.

(Vil - Did you realise you posted it as "drown" in your original post?)

 

[vil]

Sorry for my foolish mistake by oversight.

The original sentence is from Hara's "The Lockwood Concern".

V.