hard-nosed
adjective phrase

- practical and determined (UK)
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

- being tough, stubborn, or uncompromising (US)
(Merriam-Webster Online)

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WORD ORIGIN

The two slightly different definitions from Cambridge and Merriam-Webster demonstrate how the usage of "hard-nosed" has evolved. It also shows how some English words are applied differently in different English-speaking countries. Hard-nosed originally referred to a person who is stubborn or insistent while also being practical or pragmatic (the main definition in British English).

In American English, hard-nosed has taken on a somewhat different meaning. It still refers to a person who is uncompromising, but they don't have to be pragmatic at the same time. It describes someone who is "tough" in the positive sense of seeing a project to completion or someone like a politician who takes a certain position on an issue and is not willing to change it.

In this case, hard-nosed has a macho undertone to it. And for good reason. In American football, before the invention of the facemask that is attached to the helmet, a hard-nosed player was one who liked to stick his nose right in the middle of the action. The phrase "hard-nosed football" is still used today to describe a team that plays a hard, physical game.

Nose can also be found in many idioms. Here is small sample:

- pay through the nose = to pay too much for something

- thumb your nose at something/someone = to show that you do not respect rules, laws, or powerful people or organizations

- rub someone's nose in it = to say or do something which makes someone remember that they have failed

- keep your nose to the grindstone = to continue to work very hard, without stopping

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SYNONYMS

hard-headed, stubborn, determined, obstinate, adamant, inflexible, relentless, uncompromising

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Practice OWAD in a conversation today, say something like:

"To keep costs down, some employers are HARD-NOSED with suppliers and employees alike."