horny-handed

See also:hornyhanded

English

WOTD – 2 April 2023

Etymology

Fromhorny(“bony or hard like an animal’s horn, calloused, rough”)+‎handed.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/ˈhɔːniˌhændɪd/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/ˈhoɹniˌhændəd/

• Audio(General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation:horny-hand‧ed

Adjective

horny-handed(comparativemorehorny-handed,superlativemosthorny-handed)

1. Havinghandsthat arehorny(calloused) andtoughfrommanual labour;hardhanded.
   • 1906,W[illiam] S[omerset] Maugham,chapterXVI,inThe Bishop’s Apron: A Study in the Origins of a Great Family,London:Chapman and Hall,→OCLC;republished asThe Bishop’s Apron(EBook #47523), United States:Project Gutenberg,28 June 2020:

     "My patience must be inexhaustible. I am much tempted to kick you downstairs, Mr. Railing." / "You forget that I'm a working-man andhorny-handed,so it's safer not to try. "

   • 1953,Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., “The Farm Implements of the Homespun Age”, inThe Golden Age of Homespun,Ithaca, N.Y., London: Fall Creek Books,Cornell University Press,published2010,→ISBN,page237:

     The pitchfork remains one of the hand tools that no invention can ever wholly replace, and I suppose that unborn generations of men will growhornyhandedand weary in its use.

   • 1983,Emile Guillaumin, chapter XLVII, inMargaret Crosland,transl., edited byEugen Weber,The Life of a Simple Man,Hanover, N.H.:University Press of New England,→ISBN,page160:

     He was so fond of drink, that he would shamelessly accept the contemptuous hospitality ofhornyhandedworkmen.

   • 1985,Laurie Penman, “Tools and Equipment”, inThe Clock Repairer’s Handbook,Newton Abbot, Devon, London:David & Charles;New York, N.Y.: Arco Publishing,→ISBN,page157,column 2:

     The dot punch is used to make a more permanent mark than a pencilled or scratched line;[…]The mark is made with a tap from a light hammer, although I have knownhorny[-]handedmarkers who did it with simple hand pressure.

Alternative forms

• hornyhanded

Derived terms

• horny-handedly
• horny-handedness

Translations

having hands that are horny and tough from manual labour

• Finnish:känsäkätinen
• Macedonian:гру́би ра́це(grúbi ráce)