Why Alcohol Is 'Hard'

One of our listeners recently wrote in to ask why some types of alcohol are known as “hard” alcohol. Aren’t all liquids soft, not hard?

We looked into this question, which led us to exploring some other interesting words for alcohol. Here’s what we found.

Why Is Alcohol Called ‘Hard’?

First of all, let’s look at the word “hard.” It’s an old Germanic word—so old that one of its first recorded uses is in “Beowulf,” the epic poem written around 700 AD. (1) Maybe because it’s so old, the word has come to have many shades of meaning. It can mean firm and unyielding, rough and abrasive, or stubborn and obstinate. 

Another meaning that developed early on was “harsh and unpleasant.” It makes sense, then, that in the 1500s, it started being used to describe alcohol that had a sharp, acidic flavor. A “hard wine” was one that contained a lot of tannins—compounds that come from grape skins and seeds and have an astringent flavor. (2)  A treatise on good manners written in the 1500s notes that “Neither hard wine is pleasant to the taste, neither haughty behavior acceptable in company.” (3) Indeed!

Another sense of “hard” that developed over time was “powerful and potent.” That’s the sense we use today when we refer to drinks with a high alcohol content, like vodka—in contrast to ones with a lower alcohol content, like beer. 

The final sense of “hard” we’ll talk about is the sense of an action that involves great force or that a person does recklessly. From this sense comes the expression of someone being a “hard drinker.” It doesn’t mean they drink hard alcohol (although they might). Instead, it means they drink persistently and drink in excess. Not usually the best combination. 

Soft Drinks Versus Hard Alcohol

One other fact about “hard drinks.” You might think of them as the opposite of “soft drinks.” Today, when we use that phrase, we think of sugary, carbonated beverages like Coke, Pepsi, or Dr Pepper. 

By the way, if you care about punctuation, take note: the “Dr” in “Dr Pepper” does not take a period. If you have a problem with that, talk to the ad executives who decided in the 1950s to take it out because they thought it would be easier to read the name on the bottle without the period. They were Americans, so they would normally used a period. But...

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