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hard cheese
01
used to show one's lack of sympathy for a person or thing
Dialect
British
British
Humorous
Idiom
InformalWhat is the origin of the idiom "hard cheese" and when to use it?
The idiomatic expression "hard cheese" is used to convey sympathy or understanding in response to someone's misfortune or disappointment. It originated in British English and was quite popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While its precise origin is not well-documented, it likely developed as a humorous way of expressing empathy or acknowledging someone's tough luck.
Examples
He ’s complaining because he has to read and correct all the documents manually, is he? Well, hard cheese; he ’ll have to keep doing that. That ’s what he is paid for.
If you slept through your alarm because you stayed up half the night, tough cheese!
