horny-handed

See also: hornyhanded

English

WOTD – 2 April 2023

Etymology

From horny (“bony or hard like an animal’s horn, calloused, rough”) +‎ handed.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔːniˌhændɪd/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhoɹniˌhændəd/
Audio (General American): (file)
Hyphenation: horny-hand‧ed

Adjective

horny-handed (comparative more horny-handed, superlative most horny-handed)

Having hands that are horny (calloused) and tough from manual labour; hardhanded.
- 1906, W[illiam] S[omerset] Maugham, chapter XVI, in The Bishop’s Apron: A Study in the Origins of a Great Family, London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC; republished as The 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 and horny-handed, so it's safer not to try."
- 1953, Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., “The Farm Implements of the Homespun Age”, in The Golden Age of Homespun, Ithaca, N.Y., London: Fall Creek Books, Cornell University Press, published 2010, →ISBN, page 237:
  The pitchfork remains one of the hand tools that no invention can ever wholly replace, and I suppose that unborn generations of men will grow hornyhanded and weary in its use.
- 1983, Emile Guillaumin, chapter XLVII, in Margaret Crosland, transl., edited by Eugen Weber, The Life of a Simple Man, Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, →ISBN, page 160:
  He was so fond of drink, that he would shamelessly accept the contemptuous hospitality of hornyhanded workmen.
- 1985, Laurie Penman, “Tools and Equipment”, in The Clock Repairer’s Handbook, Newton Abbot, Devon, London: David & Charles; New York, N.Y.: Arco Publishing, →ISBN, page 157, 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 known horny[-]handed markers who did it with simple hand pressure.

Alternative forms

hornyhanded

Derived terms

Translations

having hands that are horny and tough from manual labour

Finnish: känsäkätinen
Macedonian: гру́би ра́це (grúbi ráce)

References

^ “horny-handed, adj.” under “horny, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022; “horny-handed, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[1] “horny-handed, adj.” under “horny, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022; “horny-handed, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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