a hard nut (to crack)
A person, thing, situation, or problem that is particularly difficult to understand, solve, or deal with. I've been dating Jenny for over a year, and I still think she's a hard nut to crack! Figuring out the best way to modernize our product without alienating existing customers is definitely a hard nut to crack. The spy we captured is a hard nut; he hasn't said a thing since we began the interrogation.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
(a) hard nut to crack
and (a) tough nut to crackFig. difficult person or problem to deal with. This problem is getting me down. It's a hard nut to crack. Tom sure is a hard nut to crack. I can't figure him out.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
hard nut to crack
Also, tough nut to crack. A difficult problem; also, an individual who is difficult to deal with. For example, This assignment is a hard nut to crack, or It won't be easy getting her approval; she's a tough nut to crack. This metaphoric expression alludes to hard-shelled nuts like walnuts. [Early 1700s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
tough nut to crack, a
A difficult problem; a hard person to deal with. This early analogy, also put as a hard nut to crack, was first drawn in the early eighteenth century. Benjamin Franklin used it in a letter in 1745: “Fortified towns are hard nuts to crack; and your teeth have not been accustomed to it.” A similar term from a somewhat later era is tough customer, likewise meaning a person difficult to deal with. Dickens used it in Barnaby Rudge (1841): “Rather a tough customer in argument, Joe, if anybody was to try and tackle him.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer