hard eight n. in holiday sales-making industries, the last eight weeks of the year. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1916, a small-town newspaper in Pennsylvania printed a fanciful item about a local gathering with a guest list that included, among others, Miss Ella Vader, Mr. Ray Zor, and other punny names. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Fernando in San Antonio, Texas, is curious about the use of the term holiday to mean a space on a wall that’s been covered unevenly and requires repainting. This usage goes back to the shipbuilding industry of the 1700s, when workers tarring the...
Doesn’t a hard eight also mean dice that add up to eight with a three and a five, instead of two fours? Or is it the other way around? Thank you.
Best regards,
Brad David
Hard eight in craps is double 4’s. You get numbers the “Hard way” in craps when there is exactly one way for the dice to land to give it to you. Hard 6, Hard 8, etc. The easy six is 4 and 2 or 5 and 1 or the easy eight is 5 and 3 or 2 and 6, and so on. Though there is the “Hard Two” it has other more significant names (craps or snake eyes depending on when it is rolled)