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Hard Lines

.

Hard terms; “rather rough treatment;” exacting. Lines mean lot or allotment (measured out by a line measure), as, “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage,” i.e. my allotment is excellent. Hard lines = an unfavourable allotment (or task).

That was hard lines upon me, after I had given up everything.”—G. Eliot.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Happy the People whose Annals are Tiresome
Hapsburg
Har
Har
Haram or Harem
Harapha
Harbinger
Harcourt’s Round Table
Hard
Hard By
Hard Lines
Hard Up
Hard as Nails
Hard as a Stone
Hard as the Nether Millstone
Hardouin
Hardy (Letitia)
Hare
Hare-brained, or Hair-brained
Harefoot
Hare-lip