The idiom “hard as nails” refers to someone who is physically or mentally tough, and may also imply insensitivity towards others. It is one of many English idioms that use the word “hard” to mean toughness. Idioms add color and impact to speech and have meanings that differ from literal definitions.
If something or someone is described as “hard as nails,” it means that they are physically or mentally tough. The phrase can also be used to refer to someone who is emotionless and unconcerned about the emotions of others. Someone who is “tough as nails” is often someone who has had a difficult life and, as such, has become desensitized to suffering and hardship. This phrase is one of many English idioms that have similar meanings and use the word “hard”, such as “hard as a rock” or “hardhearted”.
An idiom is a word or phrase that is used as a way of adding color or impact to English speech that might otherwise be boring or mundane. The distinguishing feature of an idiom is that its meaning is often accepted as something very different from what the literal definitions of its component words might suggest. Its meaning may also differ from what it meant when the phrase was first coined. One such commonly used idiom is the phrase “hard as nails.”
The most common way this phrase is used is as a means of describing toughness. There are some people who have the ability to handle physical pain much better than normal people might be able to handle. By the same token, some people can face mental or emotional setbacks with the same kind of unwavering attitude. Either way, this phrase can be used. For example, someone might say, “Considering how much pain he must have been in, that guy is tough as nails to get that surgery and get up and walk around the next day.”
There may also be an implication with this phrase that the person described in this way may be insensitive or harsh towards others. The phrase, when used in this way, seems to diverge from being about a person’s harshness to being about the harsh way that person treats other people. This is often the case when someone has led a life filled with problems and hardships. For example, he considers the line, “He was raised by really bad parents, so it’s no wonder he’s tough as nails.”
“Hard as nails” is one of many phrases that use the word “hard” to mean toughness. In this case, the meaning is relatively obvious. Nails are generally made of the strongest possible material, so anything or anyone that is considered that hard, figuratively speaking, must be particularly strong.
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