# What's the etymology of "hardcore"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 5, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977 "2009-07-05T15:09:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/1 "2009-07-05T15:09:23Z")
How long has it been in common use? Does it refer to some actual object with a hard core?
And, to head off the obvious: Yes, I know the phrase “hardcore porn,” ha ha, but I’m skeptical that was the original usage.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/2 "2009-07-05T15:22:02Z")
Two things: 1) I’m guessing. 2) My synapses aren’t all firing yet.
‘Hard’ may be using the meaning of ‘tough’, and ‘core’ may mean ‘heart’ or ‘deepest place’. So hardcore might have come from being tough all the way through, as in ‘That Marine is hard to the core.’ (Avoiding the obvious pun. 😉 ) That is, someone who is ‘hardcore’ is one who makes the maximum effort or does a job completely.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/3 "2009-07-05T15:25:21Z")
[WordOrigins.org](http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/pornography_obscenity_indecency/):
> [@](#):
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> Pornography is often subdivided into hardcore and softcore material. This use of hardcore dates to at least 1959 when it appears in Ernst & Schwartz’s Censorship:
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> > [@](#):
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> > A work of literature stands on quite a different footing from hard core pornography.
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> The term hard core dates to the mid-19th century and originally referred to the interior of a structure, road, or foundation consisting of gravel and other rough refuse material. By the early 20th century, it was being used to refer to something that was tough and intractible, as in this citation from the 12 September 1936 issue of Nature:
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> > [@](#):
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> > Possibly 200,000 would be practically unemployable on any ordinary basis–the “hard core” as it is called.
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> The use of hardcore to mean harsh or aggressive postdates the pornography sense, appearing in the 1970s.
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> Softcore pornography appears a bit later that its hardcore complement. From the New York Times of 25 September 1966:
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> > [@](#):
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> > The soft-core pornography of advertisements like “Have you had any lately?”
There’s almost certainly a punning aspect as well. Hardcore pornography shows an erect penis, but softcoft either omits the penis or shows it flaccid.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/4 "2009-07-05T15:26:50Z")
So much for my guess.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/5 "2009-07-05T15:39:25Z")
Huh. I always assumed that it referred to the core members of a political organization or group - the “hard core” of avid fanatics that motivate any group of radicals.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/6 "2009-07-05T15:45:20Z")
Well, the oldest OED cite is from 1852 – as “hard core” – and refers to hard materials useful for roadbuilding. There were thus “hard core” roads. This probably morphed in to the sexual meaning later.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/7 "2009-07-05T15:57:50Z")
My OED (Concise) also tracks it from the hard rubble that was the core of roads to metaphorically any strongly held core belief or an extreme position or version of something. Hence its porn usage.
[Here’s](http://www.garyspeer.com/interesting-word-history-usage-hardcore-meant-bricks-and-stone/)an online source.
> [@](#):
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> the origin goes back to stone masonry, brick laying, etc. The “hardcore” was a layer of broken stones or bricks which could be compressed into a sub-foundation or footing for a building project. I gather “hardcore” wasn’t preferred to solid rock, but was considered a reliable alternative if done carefully.
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> Today’s use of the word seems to center mostly around two concepts: 1) meaning strongly committed or dedicated to something, or, 2) sexually explicit.
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### Author:  [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/8 "2009-07-06T01:21:29Z")
Cool. Thanks guys.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/9 "2009-07-06T03:11:12Z")
Among Civil War reenactors, to be called “hardcore” is high praise. It means you’re committed to authenticity and accuracy (wool uniform, appropriate accoutrements, not wearing Nikes, etc.). The opposite is “farb” or “farby.”
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### Author:  [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/10 "2009-07-06T03:39:38Z")
If you’re talking about music, “hardcore” became the preferred term for American “punk” music.
Etymology was from the Canadian group DOA and their second album called “Hardcore '81”.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/11 "2009-07-06T04:17:22Z")
It described a very specific subset of UK house/techno music in the very early '90s, too.
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### Author:  [@Cyberpope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberpope)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/12 "2015-08-28T17:47:00Z")
> [@zut](#):
>
> How long has it been in common use? Does it refer to some actual object with a hard core?
>
> And, to head off the obvious: Yes, I know the phrase “hardcore porn,” ha ha, but I’m skeptical that was the original usage.
from etymonline dot com
also hard-core; 1936 (n.); 1951 (adj.); from hard (adj.) + core (n.). Original use seems to be among economists and sociologists, in reference to unemployables. Extension to pornography is attested by 1966. Also the name of a surfacing material.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-etymology-of-hardcore/501977/13 "2015-08-29T04:50:57Z")
Please note this is a six-year-old thread.