American slang: "take a club to the head"

[PeaceMaker]

Hi guys,

can you please help me with this slang phrase? I heard it in the final episode of Desperate Housewives, where Roberta and Caren (two old ladies) were at the police station. They brought them there to the questioning, but Roberta was joking about little experience of the inspector who was in charge there....Caren didn't like it, she said...

Caren: Roberta, Don't piss him off. You can't take a club to the head like you used to.

does it mean....You can't take a punch to the head like you were young?

thanks a lot in advance

PM

[Mister Micawber]

Yes, you can't bear being beaten-- the suggestion is that Roberta was rather wild when she was young (or perhaps a student protester) who had suffered a hit from a policeman's billy club before.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[PeaceMaker]

Thanks a lot Mister Micawber!