essere un osso duro

Meaning: Be a difficult, stubborn person who is challenging to deal with or influence.

Language: Italian

Literally: to be a hard bone

Category: Animals

Origin: From hunting and butchering tradition where hard bones were unpleasant obstacles requiring significant effort.

More idioms — Animals

медведь на ухо наступил — To lack musical ability or have poor sense of pitch and rhythm.
att vara rädd som en hare — To be extremely fearful and jumpy, ready to flee at the slightest danger.
let the cat out of the bag — to reveal a secret inadvertently.
go belly up — to fail completely; to go bankrupt.
bark up the wrong tree — to pursue a wrong course; to blame the wrong person.
get your ducks in a row — to organize yourself; to prepare systematically.

piangere sul latte versato — Waste time regretting something that cannot be changed or undone.
Prendere due piccioni con una fava — To achieve two goals with a single effort.
Avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca — To want to have it both ways.
Ogni morte di papa — Extremely rarely; once in a blue moon.
Avere gli occhi foderati di prosciutto — To be unable to see what is right in front of you.
Fare le corna — To ward off bad luck — or to signal that a partner is being unfaithful.

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