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Hard lines

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A British idiomatic phrase expressing sympathy for someone's misfortune or bad luck; functions in poetry as a colloquial acknowledgment of hardship, conveying compassion through understated vernacular rather than elaborate lamentation.

Detailed Definition
Hard lines is a British expression of sympathy for misfortune, disappointment, or bad luck, often with a restrained or understated tone. In poetry, it can appear in dialogue, dramatic monologue, or social satire to reveal emotional distance, class voice, or stoical manners. The phrase may be kindly, perfunctory, ironic, or inadequate depending on context. It is useful when a speaker acknowledges suffering without fully entering it. Its brevity can expose the limits of conventional consolation.
Example
Example in poetry:
A compassionate poem may say hard lines to the loser without mocking him; In a comic sporting verse, hard lines follows a ridiculous defeat; The phrase can express sympathy for bad luck; A poet might use it to capture plain-spoken kindness.
Additional Notes
Hard lines is a British expression of sympathy for misfortune, often brief and understated. In poetry, it can reveal social tone: compassion may be genuine, awkward, or insufficient. The phrase suits dialogue, dramatic monologue, school stories, sport, class observation, or restrained emotional scenes. Students should notice the economy of feeling; “hard lines” may comfort lightly, but it can also expose how little language does in the face of loss.
Also Known As
bad luck
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