"I am hard of seeing" or "I am hard of walking" are just never used. How did people come to call semi-deafness "hard of hearing"?
Especially, why is "hard of" used? I could understand "weak of hearing", but why "hard"?
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Google NGrams does report examples for hard of seeing– JoseKCommented Jul 11, 2011 at 12:10
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@JoseK: Yes, and graphing "seeing" against "hearing" kinda proves my point.– DanielCommented Jul 11, 2011 at 12:14
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May be hard of hearing stuck on because it appeared in Shakespeare– JoseKCommented Jul 11, 2011 at 12:23
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@drm65: I have a (good) guess, but no references, so I'll avoid posting although I'm pretty sure of it... If nothing comes up or if I find something more, I'll post it.– AlenannoCommented Jul 11, 2011 at 13:03
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@Jose: I figured it might have been. . . although there it seems to mean something along the lines of difficult to hear.– CallithumpianCommented Jul 11, 2011 at 16:44
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4 Answers
It's a common construction from Middle English that is used not-so-unextensively as you'd think:
Fleet of foot.
Yorkshire born and Yorkshire bred, Strong of arm and thick of head.
Etc.
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1Yes, but that wasn't my question so much how the "hard" came to be applied to the "of" construction.– DanielCommented Jul 11, 2011 at 12:17
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1I don't think there's a special reason for "hard' to be used in this way -- It's an adjective, so it fits into the adjective-"of"-noun template. Commented Jul 11, 2011 at 12:50
Interesting question. Etymonline's entry on hard explains that the phrase hard of hearing "preserves obsolete M.E. sense of having difficulty in doing something." This doesn't explain why it is only used for partial deafness. Maybe its alliteration lent it such long life.
answered Jul 11, 2011 at 11:40
Actually, "hard of seeing" is in use. It was coined by the late, Dr. Lorraine June Marchi Fastie. click here to read about her
What might have been omitted in the explanations here is the alliteration of the phrase, "hard of hearing". This does not address the 'hard' or the 'of' but it does point to how the musicality of the phrase strikes the ear. Therefore its longevity over the phrase "hard of seeing".
