Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

(Amelia) #1

hard liquorn. potent liquor such as whis-
key, gin, rum, etc. Hard liquor makes
me sick. Stay off of hard liquor until
your stomach feels better.


hard-nosedmod. stern and businesslike;
unsympathetic. She’s pretty hard-nosed
and tends to put people off. It takes a
hard-nosed manager to run a place like
this.


hard offn. a dull and sexless male. (The
opposite ofhard-on.) Wally is a silly
hard off. He seems asleep half the time.


hard-onn. an erection of the penis. (Usu-
ally objectionable.) He must have had
his last hard-on years ago.


hard selln. a high-pressure attempt to sell
something. I didn’t want to listen to any
hard sell, so I bought it from a mail-order
place. I’m afraid I’m very susceptible to
the hard sell.


hard time 1. n. a difficult experience. I
had a hard time at the doctor’s office. 
She’s having a hard time with her child.



  1. n. a prison sentence. (Underworld.) 
    Lefty did hard time for his part in the rob-
    bery. How much hard time does he have
    behind him?


hard to swallowmod. difficult to believe.
Your story is pretty hard to swallow, but
I am beginning to believe it. The news
was hard to swallow.


hard up 1. mod. alcohol intoxicated. Af-
ter a couple of six packs, Wally found him-
self a little hard up. The whole gang was
hard up by midnight. 2. mod. in need of
drugs or alcohol. Gert was hard up and
needed a fix. The old hobo was hard up
for a drink. 3. mod. desperate for com-
panionship. Freddie said he was hard
up and needed a date. Mary must be
hard up to date a jerk like that.


hardware 1. n. whiskey; potent liquor. 
This hardware is enough to knock your
socks off. Pour me some of that hard-
ware, will ya? 2. n. hard drugs or hard
liquor. No wine for me. Give me the
hardware. This hardware is pretty pow-
erful. 3. n. a weapon; a gun. (Underworld
and Western.) I think I see your hard-
ware showing. Lefty keeps his hardware


under his mattress. 4. n. computer parts,
as opposed to computer programs. 
What kind of hardware are you running
this program on? The software is okay,
so it must be the hardware that’s off.
harshmod. bad; rude. She’s a harsh lady
and doesn’t care how you feel. Man, this
hamburger is harsh. What did you put
in it?
harsh toke 1. n. an irritating puff of a
marijuana cigarette. (Drugs.) Wo w,
that was a harsh toke. Yuck! Pat got a
harsh toke and coughed a lot. 2. n. any-
thing or anyone unpleasant. Sally can
sure be a harsh toke when she wants. 
This meeting has been a real harsh toke.
has-been[“hAzbIn] 1. n. someone who
used to be important; a person whose ca-
reer has ended. Marty is just a has-
been. There’s no future for him. An old
has-been was hired to host the midnight
show. 2. mod. former; burnt-out. Some
has-been singer croaked through “The
Star-Spangled Banner.” Now I’m a has-
been football player, and nobody even
knows my name.
hash[hAS] n. hashish; cannabis in general.
(Drugs.) The amount of hash that
moves into this city in a single day would
astound you. Hash is still the favorite
first drug other than alcohol.
hash cannonn. a device used in the smok-
ing of cannabis. (Drugs. See also shot-
gun.) Gert kept a hash cannon in her
stash. Don had a hash cannon in his of-
fice as a sample of a device for smoking
pot.
hash-head n. a smoker of cannabis.
(Drugs.) You can’t stay a hash-head all
your life. Kelly was almost a hopeless
hash-head.
hash-house 1. n. a cheap diner. To m
worked for two days as a hash-slinger in a
hash-house. You see a lot of interesting
people go in and out of a hash-house like
this one. 2. n. a place where hashish is
sold and used. (Drugs.) This hash-
house is due for a raid. Let’s hit it. The
fuzz raided a hash-house over on Maple
Street.

hash-house
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