2. (old: now recognised).—1. Sour or souring; as in hard-cider; (2)
hard drinks (American) = intoxicating liquors, as wine, ale, etc.,
while lemonade, soda-water, ginger-beer, etc., are soft.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hard drink, that is very Stale,
or begining to Sower.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hard, stale beer nearly sour, is
said to be hard.
1882. Daily Telegraph, 10 Oct., p. 5, c. 3. A fourth defendant, in
pleading guilty, urged that the month of August last ‘turned a lot
of beer sour,’ and that he had only used some sugar for the purpose
of mollifying the hard or sour porter.
Hard as a Bone (Nails, etc.), adj. phr. (colloquial).—Very hard;
austere; unyielding.
1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 79. He stood it for a week or two without
flinching—being at that date hard as nails, as he expresses it.
Hard at it, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Very busy; in the thick of a piece
of work.
To die hard, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To sell one’s life dearly; e.g.,
The die-hards (q.v.), the 59th Regiment, so called from their gallantry
at Albuera.
To give hard for soft, verb. phr. (venery).—To copulate. See Greens.
To be Hard Hit. See Hard-hit.
[Hard, adj., is used in many combinations; generally with an
unpleasant intention. Thus, hard-arsed (or fisted, or handed) =
very niggardly; hard-bit (or hard-mouthful) = an unpleasant
experience; hard-driven (or hard-run) = sore bested; hard-faced (or
favoured, or featured) = grum, shrewish, or bony; hard-headed (or
hard-witted) = shrewd and intelligent, but unimaginative and
unsympathetic; hard-hearted = incapable of pity; hard-lipped =
obstinate, dour; hard-master = a nigger-driver; hard-nut = a
dangerous antagonist; hard-on = pitiless in severity; hard-riding =
selfish and reckless equestration; hard-service = the worst kind of
employment; hard-wrought = overworked, etc., etc.]
Hard-a-weather, adj. (nautical).—Tough; weather-proof.
1891. W. C. Russell, Ocean Tragedy, p. 44. They were hard-a-weather
fellows.
Hard-bake, subs. (schoolboys’).—A sweetmeat made of boiled brown sugar
or treacle with blanched almonds.
1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I., 51. Hardbake, brandy-balls, and
bull’s-eyes.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ii. The commodities exposed for sale in
the public streets are marine stores, hard-bake, apples, etc.
Hard-baked, adj. (old).—1. Constipated.
1823. Jon Bee, Dict. of Turf, s.v.