HOLD HARD!

Question

Dear Teachers,1. - I live two hours away from my friend's house.    - I live a two-hour drive from my friend's house.- Are these natural?2. Does "hold hard!" mean "stop!"?3. A:What's up?    B: Not much- I think the answer should be "good" or "not bad", if not. What does "not much" mean here?4. "That's it!" means "the end!" or "that's enough!", right?5. She was suffering from brain-lock.- What does "brain-lock" mean?Thanks very much to Teachers, Stevenukd.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

StevenukdDear Teachers,

1. - I live two hours away from my friend's house.

- I live a two-hour drive from my friend's house.

- Are these natural? Yes.

2. Does "hold hard!" mean "stop!"? Don't know. Hope someone else can weigh on this. Sounds like a sailing term!

3. A:What's up?

B: Not much

- I think the answer should be "good" or "not bad", if not. What does "not much" mean here? "What's up" is not the same as "How are you?" It's used the same way - as a casual greeting - but it's asking "What's going on?" So you don't answer "good," but you answer that not much is going on.

4. "That's it!" means "the end!" or "that's enough!", right? It depends on the context. "Okay! That's IT!" could mean "That's enough, stop right now!" But if you're driving down the road looking for a particular restaurant, "that's it!" could mean exactly that - "that's the one we're looking for" or... "Well, folks, that's it" does mean "that's the end." So it depends.

5. She was suffering from brain-lock.

- What does "brain-lock" mean? Probably the same as "brain freeze" - a temporary moment of not being able to think. We all have them.

Thanks very much to Teachers,

Stevenukd.

Rishonly · Answer

"I live two hours away from my friend's house."

An offtopic question: According to the above sentence, what would be the distance between my house and my friend's house?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Well, Rishonly, it depends on whether those two hours must be traveled through downtown Manhattan at rush hour, along a superhighway, or along back roads that have slow speed limits but the only traffic you encounter is moose. Two hours in Maine along Interstate 95 isn't the same as two hours as this road in Scotland I drove along once. It's pretty common to use time instead of distance to describe something like that.

But since you write, do you know what "hold hard" is?

Rishonly · Answer

Hi GG,

Basically, I was curious to understand that the time (hours) is based on the driving time. Regarding the highways, I agree with you based on my personal experience on I-10 West;a four-hour quick(?) drive will take me from PHX to LA.

Besides, "Hold hard" ,in my understanding, is "stop immediately".

Clive · Answer

Hi guys,

Yes, 'Hold hard' is an old-fashioned phrase meaning 'Stop right now', It's echoed today in the common phrase 'Hold on' meaning 'Stop' or 'Wait'.

It seems to me like a '"Boys' adventure" kind of phrase. It has a nautical ring, I can imagine Long John Silver saying 'Hold ye hard, Jim lad'.

In Herman Melville's novel, 'Israel Potter', we find this in the fight between two ships -

But the attempt to lay the Richard right across the head of the
Serapis ended quite otherwise, in sending the enemy's jib-boom just over the Richard's great tower of
Pisa, where Israel was stationed; who, catching it eagerly, stood for an instant holding to the slack of the
sail, like one grasping a horse by the mane prior to vaulting into the saddle.

"Aye, hold hard, lad," cried Paul, springing to his side with a coil of rigging. With a few rapid turns he
knitted himself to his foe.

In the above, it seems to me the meaning can be either 'stop now' or 'hold tight'.

In 'Moby ****', we see this alternative meaning of 'hold tight' more clearly in this excerpt -

The log was heaved. The loose coils rapidly straightened out in a long dragging line astern, and then, instantly, the reel began to whirl. In turn, jerkingly raised and lowered by the rolling billows, the towing resistance of the log caused the old reelman to stagger strangely.

"Hold hard!" (It's Captain Ahab who says this. Not Long John Silver, but at least another one-legged sailor.)

Best wishes, Clive

HOLD HARD!

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