# tuff
## English
### Etymology 1

From French tuffe, tuf, from Italian tufo, from Latin tōfus. Doublet of tufa.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tʌf/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ʌf
* Homophone: tough

#### Noun

tuff (countable and uncountable, plural tuffs)
* (petrology) A light porous rock, now especially a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash varying in size from fine sand to coarse gravel.
    Synonym: tufa
** 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 9n:This is what makes an ignimbrite; the general term for this kind of volcaniclastic rock is ‘tuff’.

##### Derived terms

* tufflava

##### Translations
### Etymology 2
#### Adjective

tuff (comparative tuffer, superlative tuffest)
* Eye dialect spelling of tough.
** 1980, Joy Wilt Berry, Ernie Hergenroeder, Tuff Stuff: A Children's Book about Trauma‎, Educational Products Division, Word, Inc., →ISBN:Tuff Stuff teaches that while life may go smoothly most of the time, ...
** 2000, Margaret Cavendish, “Preface to the Reader (1655)”, in Sylvia Bowerbank, Sara Mendelson, editors, Paper Bodies‎, →ISBN, page 139:… yet never to make us so strong as the strongest of Men, whose Sinnews are tuffer, and Bones stronger, and Joints closer, and Flesh firmer, than ours are …
** 2003, Ronald Carter, The Routledge Guide to Modern English Writing‎ (Language Arts), Routledge, →ISBN, page 96:It was rave reviewed in the Caribbean Times as 'the ruffest, tuffest and the boo-yacka of all modern gangster novels'.
** 2006, Paige Hemmis, The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement‎, Penguin, →ISBN, page 36:TUFF METER
** 2010 January 20, Robert J. Elisberg, “CES 2020 -- Ohm on the Range”, in Huffington Post‎, retrieved 2012-09-14:Its Tuff-n-Tiny USB flash drive is about the size of a thumbnail. … The company insists that the "tuff" part of the name is well-earned for being waterproof, dustproof and you can drive a car over it.
** 2011, Kristian Pope, Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling Field Guide: Legend and Lore‎, Krause Publications, →ISBN:Tuff Stuff Professional Wrestling

### Further reading

* tuff on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### References

* Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, tuff

## Swedish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tɵf/

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from English tough. Attested since 1923.

#### Adjective

tuff (comparative tuffare, superlative tuffast)
* (somewhat colloquial) tough
    en tuff uppgifta tough task
    en tuff daga tough day
    tuffa förhandlingartough negotiations
    ett tufft besluta tough decision
    spela tuffact tough
* (colloquial) cool; badass (see usage notes)
    Vilken tuff motorcykel!What a cool motorcycle!
    Om man ska vara med i ett gatugäng måste man ha ett tufft smeknamnIf you're going to be in a street gang, you need to have a cool nickname
    göra tuffa tricks på brädanpull off some rad tricks on the board
    Fan vad tufft!Awesome!
** 1995, De Lyckliga Kompisarna (lyrics and music), “Allmänt tuff [Generally badass]”, in Sagoland [Fairy tale land]‎:Allmänt tuff. Jocke, han är allmänt tuff, och Krille, han är allmänt tuff. Allmänt tuff. Danne, han är allmänt tuff, och jag är allmänt tuff.Generally badass. Jocke, he [redundant in Swedish as well] is generally badass, and Krille, he is generally badass. Generally badass. Danne, he is generally badass, and I am generally badass.

##### Usage notes

Often with (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) bad boy (or girl) connotations when of a person. The sense of cool has (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) connotations of (somewhat) breaking social norms as well. A motorcycle might be called tuff for example, by association with bikers, "tuff musik" would commonly be something like heavy metal (considered cool and rebellious, "edgy"), and a "tuff frisyr" would be a cool and (slightly) provocative haircut. Sometimes a bit dated (or tongue-in-cheek), for example when describing music.

##### Derived terms

* tuffing

##### See also

* cool
* häftig

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

tuff c
* (petrology) tuff

##### Declension

| | | nominative | genitive |
| singular | indefinite | tuff | tuffs |
| singular | definite | tuffen | tuffens |
| plural | indefinite | tuffer | tuffers |
| plural | definite | tufferna | tuffernas |

### References

* tuff in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* tuff in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* tuff in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)