"Learn the Hard Way" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 07/08/2020

0:00 - How to Say, “Learn the hard way…”
0:21 - Examples of “Learn the hard way…”
1:11 - Meaning of “Learn the hard way…”
3:01 - “Learn the hard way…” in other languages
4:28 - More Examples of “Learn the hard way…”
5:21 - Conclusion

“Learn the hard way…”

You’ve probably heard an elder berate a youngster for “learning the hard way,” or doing something with unpleasant consequences even after a warning.

“Wear a helmet, you don’t want to learn the hard way the importance of head protection,” an experienced athlete might tell a novice.

You might be telling your friend about the time you became homeless, “I learned the hard way that you should always have a few months’ of income saved up.”

Maybe you find yourself at the hospital after a scooter accident and a nurse says, “Unlucky you... you had to learn the hard way about wearing safety gear.”

It’s plain to see that “learn the hard way”, refers to learning something through first-hand experience - and it’s usually something undesirable.

“Learn the easy way,” is not the opposite idiom to, “learn the hard way,” though you might occasionally hear people say this, just because “easy” and “hard” are opposites.

“Learning the hard way,” can be described as learning about something directly, for yourself, through first-hand experience…

… and it could be something that you had never heard of, or it could be something that you were warned about.

It is a common human experience for the experienced, the elders, to try and teach the inexperienced, the youngsters, through words, lessons and stories…

… but often being unsuccessful in ingraining their teachings in the minds of the youngsters, who often go off and “learn the hard way” anyway.

Thus, it is no surprise that the idiom, “learn the hard way,” is found in many languages.

In French, they say, “To have learned in the tough way.”

In Turkish, you “learn by living”.

In Arabic, they say that you “learn a lesson by harsh means.”

In Chinese, they say that there is “a lot of bitter work before learning.”

Perhaps humans have to keep “learning the hard way”, because learning by doing is a lot more effective than learning by listening.

Whether a child has learned not to touch a hot kettle from being burned by doing so the last time…

… or the child has learned how to climb a tree via practice, it seems that “learning the hard way” is sometimes the easiest way.

“Children always have to learn the hard way!” you might say to your husband after your toddler spilt milk all over herself.

You might be teaching a friend how to bake, “When my last cake came out soggy, I learned the hard way that you have to measure the ingredients exactly!”

Maybe your teenager’s car ran out of gas in the middle of the road, “I guess you had to learn the hard way to watch your gauges, even after I told you!”

So, whether you’ve just learnt a lesson from experiencing something first hand, or didn’t heed advice, don’t forget that we all need to “learn the hard way” sometimes!

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