hatchet man

A person who performs nasty tasks for his or her superior, such as firing subordinates, attacking the character of a political opponent, spreading rumors about a competitor, or the like. The term, so used since the 1940s, was applied particularly in politics and journalism, and the work so performed was also called a hatchet job. The magazine Newsweek had it on July 27, 1968: “He’ll be the hatchet man . . . just like Nixon was in 1952.” It also is used in other contexts, for example, “This critic did a real hatchet job on her concert.” A related term is character assassination, dating from about 1950, but it is no longer heard as often.

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hard way

See THE HARD WAY.

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hard/tough sledding

A difficult route, difficult progress. Dating from the first half of the nineteenth century, this term alludes to the usual ease with which a sled travels toward some goal. The antonyms easy or smooth sledding date from the late nineteenth century.

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hard nut to crack

See TOUGH NUT TO CRACK.

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hard as nails

Unyielding, tough, usually describing a person. This simile, which replaced the earlier hard as flint or stone (dating from Chaucer’s time), seems to allude to a nail’s ability to withstand the blows of a ham- mer. Shaw used it in at least three of his plays (You Never Can Tell, Heartbreak House, Man and Superman) to describe an unsentimental character.

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hard and fast

Describing a strict rule that cannot be altered under any circumstances. This term originally described a ship that was out of the water, either because it had run aground or because it was in dry dock, and hence could not move. In the mid-nineteenth century the term was trans- ferred to inalterable courses of action or precepts. The OED lists an early figurative use in two different speeches given in the House of Commons in 1867: “The House has . . . determined to have no hard and fast line.”

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hard/tough act to follow

An outstanding person or performance. The term comes from American vaudeville around the turn of the twentieth century and originally referred to a particularly good act that might make the one following it look mediocre by comparison. In time it was applied to any particularly successful enterprise or admirable individual.

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