1844. Puck, p. 146. That cunning old file wont let her go with the hard cash down.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hard; metal.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Hard cole. Silver or gold money.
1863. Charles Reade, Hard Cash. [Title.] [[268]]
2. (old: now recognised).—1. Sour or souring; as in hard-cider; (2) hard drinks (American) = intoxicating liquors, as wine, ale, etc., while lemonade, soda-water, ginger-beer, etc., are soft.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Hard drink, that is very Stale, or begining to Sower.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hard, stale beer nearly sour, is said to be hard.
1882. Daily Telegraph, 10 Oct., p. 5, c. 3. A fourth defendant, in pleading guilty, urged that the month of August last ‘turned a lot of beer sour,’ and that he had only used some sugar for the purpose of mollifying the hard or sour porter.
Hard as a Bone (Nails, etc.), adj. phr. (colloquial).—Very hard; austere; unyielding.
1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 79. He stood it for a week or two without flinching—being at that date hard as nails, as he expresses it.