hard hat

1. modifier Requiring the use of rigid protective headgear, usually a location or area. This is a hard-hat zone, so you won't be let in unless you're wearing the appropriate protective clothes. Of course this is a hard-hat area—it's in the middle of a construction site! Would you get out of here? If the boss sees you in the hard-hat zone without one, I'll be the one who gets in trouble!

2. modifier Of or characterized by extremely conservative views, beliefs, or opinions. This area of the country has some pretty entrenched hard-hat politics. With my hard-hat views, I struggled to make friends in that very liberal city. Many hard-hat political views are considered radical by other Americans.

3. noun A construction worker, in reference to the protective headpiece made from rigid metal or plastic that is often worn in construction work. Though the work was tough, I loved working as a hard hat when I was younger. I never enjoy when hard hats eye me up, but it's just something you have to put up with when you live in a city. Now that the property market has begun to boom, hard hats are much sought after once again.

4. noun Any working-class individual with extremely conservative views or beliefs. Though opinion polls show the governor's approval ratings slipping in the rest of the state, she still enjoys considerable support from hard hats in more rural areas. In towns full of hard hats, more conservative politicians tend to dominate the political scene. Those liberal views you're spouting won't get you much support from the hard hats around here.

hard hat

A working-class ultraconservative. For example, They were counting on a large number of votes from the hard hats. This term alludes to the rigid protective headgear worn by construction workers, who were noted for their conservatism during the tumultuous 1960s. [c. 1960]

hardhat

1. n. a protective helmet worn around construction sites. (Standard English.) You’ll need a hardhat to come into this area.

2. n. a construction worker. (Usually derogatory.) The hardhats didn’t care much for the actress’s politics.

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References in periodicals archive

Production of the V-Gard Green hard hat is scheduled at the company's Murrysville, Pa., manufacturing facility near Pittsburgh.--www.MSAsafety.com, www.SafetyWorks.com

Green HPDE hard hat

Whether you are a construction worker or a committed fan of DIY, the Sky Blue hard hats are a must for followers of the club.

CITY HARD HAT AND JACKET WIN!

When a jury member asked whether Mr Cochran would normally have worn a hard hat for such a job, North Wales Central coroner Mr Hughes said: "The injury he suffered was so terrible that it is still unlikely that he would have survived even with a hard hat."

WALES: Contractor in death fall did not wear hat; 'It's unlikely headgear would have saved him'

"He was wearing a stetson instead of a hard hat so he had no intention of fol lowing the hunt and was heading back to the trailer which he had brought his horse in.

STETSON HORROR; Hunt fan wearing western hat dies as his horse bolts

Jean Paul Vandermerwe was sacked by Drake Port Distribution Services (DPDS) last year when he wore a white hard hat instead of a regulation yellow one.

RACE ABUSE ROW AT PORT; Docker claims he was sacked because he is black

IN A recent edition of the Coventry Telegraph there was a big headline "Shoot to Thrill", and underneath it was the picture of a 10-year-old boy in a hard hat pointing a gun straight at the camera.

Fun and guns do not mix; Letters

As she is in a dockyard area perhaps she should be told to wear a hard hat, overalls and safety boots instead of business suit and high heels.

Letter: Your view - Walk on

The nail penetrated Mr Welsh's hard hat and pierced his skull, but there was no brain damage.

Nail man escapes sentence

"Goussein manages to perform his acrobatics without even a safety net so it is ridiculous he is being asked to wear a hard hat.

It's a hat trick; Acrobats told to wear safety gear

A LIVERPOOL dock worker who was dismissed for wearing the wrong hard hat claimed yesterday he was a victim of racial abuse.

Docker claims he was racially abused

She again drove a on a public road without a seat belt - and then went riding without a hard hat.

Queen in belt row

Having put on overalls and a hard hat, the Princess met men working at one of Britain's most productive coal seams, as a guest of RJB Mining.

Dirty look