Meaning
A hard struggle, or a wry acknowledgement that life is difficult. Regional and often wry. The phrase can express real hardship without inviting a dramatic response. Regional use: Scots and Scottish English.
Origin
The Scots words mean literally 'a sore' or severe 'fight.' The Scottish National Dictionary records the phrase as a sententious comment on life, with literary examples from the late 19th century onward. Its force ranges from a serious description of hardship to resigned understatement: 'it's a sair fecht' can simply mean 'that's life.'
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- A sair fecht for a half-loaf
- It's a sair fecht
Usage Examples
- Keeping the hill farm through two bad winters was a sair fecht.
- It's a sair fecht, she sighed, and returned to the accounts.
- For seasonal hands it was a sair fecht for a half-loaf and no certainty of work.