I punched him on the face!

English is tricky   Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:16 am GMT
I know the correct way of saying it is:
"I punched him on the face."

Then, is it wrong(incorrect) to say "I punched his face."?
Lazar   Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:49 am GMT
The only standard way to say it is, "I punched him in the face."
Rhoi (Sp3ctre18)   Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:25 am GMT
What Lazar said.
Positions are tricky   Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:01 am GMT
"I punched him in the face."

So is it wrong to say either "I punched his face." and "I punched him on the face."???
ranger   Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:22 am GMT
Тhe other two are not technically wrong and may be used in special cases, but the standard set phrase is "in the face".

Google gives what according to my experience seems to me to be a reasonable estimate of the relative frequencies of use:

"I punched him in the face." 13 400 hits
"I punched him on the face." 235 hits
"I punched his face." 611 hits
Poliglob   Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:36 pm GMT
'I punched his face' doesn't seem incorrect to me, just a little different from what's expected. (I rather like it -- it's time we got rid of that unnecessary 'in the'.)

I don't recommend it to non-native speakers, though. It will be interpreted as an unsuccessful attempt to say 'I punched him in the face'. Better stick with the standard idiom.