{"id":9771,"date":"2022-10-07T17:56:05","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T17:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=9771"},"modified":"2022-10-07T17:56:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T17:56:05","slug":"old-habits-die-hard-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/old-habits-die-hard-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Habits Die Hard \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Would you like to point out the error to someone's ways, or find a different way to say that people don't often change their old habits or behavior? The phrase 'old habits die hard'<\/strong> is a common English language saying that can be used to say this. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this saying.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The phrase 'old habits die hard' <\/strong>is used to mean that someone does not easily change old habits or behavior, or implies that it can be difficult to do so.<\/u><\/p>\n

The phrase 'old habits die hard' <\/strong>is said as a complete saying<\/u> that implies the rest of the meaning when it is being said.<\/p>\n

'Old habits die hard'<\/strong> can be used as a comeback to someone telling the speaker to stop a habit of theirs (e.g. smoking cigarettes).<\/u><\/p>\n

The phrase 'old habits die hard' <\/strong>can also be used to point out a third-party in conversation with others, and implies that their ways or habits won't easily be changed.<\/u><\/p>\n

The saying can be used to say that someone is very set in their ways, and is not going to change.<\/u><\/p>\n

Sometimes the phrase implies a mild insult when it is being said about someone.<\/u><\/p>\n

The phrase is used in full, and to say 'rare habit' is not a common use of the phrase. Whether the phrase refers to one habit or several, the term is always expressed as 'habits' when said.<\/p>\n

There are many equivalent sayings in English, including to say that 'a leopard does not change its (their) spots' that means the same.<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\u201cI can't believe that my grandmother got distant with us the way she did with our parents. Well, I guess that old habits die hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandfather told me that he started smoking cigarettes when he was six years old. He continued smoking until he died from an exploding oxygen tank. I guess that old habits die hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to stop smoking, replace one habit with another and think about taking up religion. Old habits die hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don't want to smoke, start drinking in your old age. I know that old habits die hard, but you can always choose a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

The origin and first use of the phrase 'old habits die hard' is a phrase that is most commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who wrote down the descriptive phase for a speech somewhere in the mid-1700s.<\/p>\n

Some resources argue that the phrase came to be in the 13th century, and that Franklin only paraphrased a prior sentence.<\/p>\n

After the republication of his speeches and letters, the phrase would become more common in the 1900s.<\/p>\n

The phrase would become somewhat of a catchphrase absorbed into general language, with a lot of users forgetting its origin. The phrase means what it says, and its meaning has remained largely unchanged since the phrase was used the first time.<\/p>\n

Popular culture and social media would continue the use of the term (with the same meaning) throughout the 2010s.<\/p>\n

Phrases Similar to Old Habits Die Hard<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • The more things change (the more they stay the same)<\/li>\n
  • A creature of habit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Phrases Opposite to Old Habits Die Hard<\/h2>\n
      \n
    • N\/a<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n
        \n
      • Old habits die hard<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Ways People May Say Old Habits Die Hard Incorrectly<\/h2>\n

        There are several ways in which someone can use or understand the phrase 'old habits die hard' in the wrong way: the phrase does not translate well to all languages, and would make no sense in some languages as a directly translated saying.<\/p>\n

        Someone cannot say 'old habit dies hard' and this would be incorrect repetition of the saying.<\/p>\n

        Acceptable Ways to Phrase Old Habits Die Hard<\/h2>\n

        The correct way to use the phrase 'old habits die hard' is to use the phrase as-is: it can be used to describe or imply that people do not easily change their habits, or might point out the same jokingly or sarcastically.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Would you like to point out the error to someone's ways, or find a different way to say that people don't often change their old habits or behavior? The phrase 'old habits die hard' is a common English language saying that can be used to say this. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9771"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9773,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9771\/revisions\/9773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}