Talk:dur comme fer

RFV discussion: November 2020–November 2022
French. Is it ever used with other verbs than ? 212.224.234.45 20:15, 3 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Somewhat ironically, although the usex at, actually a quote from a book, contains a form of the verb croire, the verb governing dur comme fer in the example is . Its use, other than in the fixed collocution , is defined in a 19th-century dictionary (by an example in which it is a predicative adjective) as meaning “having a very great hardiness“. Here are some book uses: a 16th-century use; an 18-th century use; a 19-th century use (rather SOP here); and a 21th-century use. Here are some stand-alone uses in news sources: ; ; . --Lambiam 10:40, 4 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Lambiam answered the question.
 * I'd say that phrase is an adverbial use of hard as nails, tough as nails, steely-eyed, etc. &mdash;Jerome Potts (talk) 22:22, 2 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Passed, then. - -sche (discuss) 17:53, 6 November 2022 (UTC)