Italianessere un osso duro
Meaning: Be a difficult, stubborn person who is challenging to deal with or influence.
Literally: To be a hard bone
Example: “Il difensore avversario è un osso duro.” — The opposing defender is a hard nut to crack.
English equivalent: A hard nut to crack
Origin: Osso traces to Latin os, ossis, bone, and the metaphor is direct and needs little unpacking: a genuinely hard, dense bone resists being broken or worked through, the same stubborn resistance a difficult opponent or an unyielding problem presents to anyone trying to overcome it. The image likely has roots in hunting and butchering traditions, where the hardest bones in an animal carcass were the most unpleasant, effort-intensive obstacles to work through, requiring real persistence rather than a single quick effort — a fitting parallel for a person who won't be worn down or defeated easily.
Equivalents in other languages
Portuguese: Descascar o abacaxi Literally: To peel the pineapple
English: a hard nut to crack
More Italian idioms
- 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.
Explore another collection: Untranslatable Words
Words that capture a feeling or idea English needs a whole sentence for.
- Meriggiare To take a quiet midday rest in a cool, shaded spot, escaping the fierce afternoon sun.
- Magari One word doing the work of 'if only', 'I wish', 'perhaps' and 'you bet' — the tone decide…
- Sprezzatura The art of making something difficult look wholly effortless, hiding every trace of the w…
Keep exploring