different between facepalm vs faceplant

English

Alternative forms

• face-palm, face palm

Etymology

From face +? palm. Attested since at least 2001.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?fe?s?p??(l)m/

Noun

facepalm (plural facepalms)

1. A gesture of bringing one or both palms to the face, with various interpretations.

Coordinate terms

• headslapper

Derived terms

• facepalmy

Translations

Verb

facepalm (third-person singular simple present facepalms, present participle facepalming, simple past and past participle facepalmed)

1. To bring the palm of one’s hand to one’s face as an expression of mixed humor and disbelief, disgust or shame; for example, when one is caught off-guard with a particularly bad pun.
2. To bring one’s face down to one’s cupped hand or hands.

Usage notes

• Found primarily in real-time text communication on the Internet, often involving image macros or ASCII art of someone facepalming.

Coordinate terms

• smack one's forehead

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Gestures/facepalm

Further reading

• facepalm on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English facepalm.

Noun

facepalm m (invariable)

1. facepalm

English

Alternative forms

• face-plant

Etymology

face +? plant (“place, set firmly”). Originally skateboarding and snowboarding slang, a humorous variant of handplant, which is an intentional technique in these sports.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?fe?s?plænt/

Noun

faceplant (plural faceplants)

1. (informal) The act of landing face first, as a result of an accident or error.
   • 2005, Michael Thomas Ford, Looking For It, Kensington Publishing Corp. (?ISBN)

     Only by catching himself with his poles had he avoided doing a face plant in the snow.

   • 2009, Sarah Cross, Dull Boy, Penguin (?ISBN)

     My cheek feels raw where Cherchette kissed me, like I did a face plant onto concrete.

2. (video games) Death or defeat in a multiplayer online game.
3. (wrestling) A wrestling move in which an attacking wrestler forces an opponent down to the mat face-first without a headlock or facelock.

   Synonym: facebuster

Usage notes

Other variants are more rarely found, such as assplant (“land on one’s ass, buttocks (unintentionally)”), in addition to variants of the intentional handplant, such as elbow plant.

Translations

Verb

faceplant (third-person singular simple present faceplants, present participle faceplanting, simple past and past participle faceplanted)

1. (informal) To land face first.

   Synonyms: eat it, (vulgar) eat shit

   • 2013, Micah Persell, Of Consuming Fire: Middle of the Garden, Simon and Schuster (?ISBN)

     Moments before she face-planted on the tile, his hands shot out and grabbed her, pulling her safely to his chest. She face-planted in the middle of his pecs instead.

2. (informal) To completely fumble or fail an activity, usually in a spectacular fashion.

Translations

See also

• extreme sports
• facepalm