hard r

plural hard r's · alternative hard R · alternative hard-r

1. informalhuman sciencesA rhotic sound which is emphatic or strongly enunciated; in English accents especially a postvocalic consonantal r, as distinguished from its absence in a nonrhotic accent or from an R-coloured vowel.

   His broad "a's" and hard "r's" forever marked him as a son of the Midwest.

   2001 October 8, Marilyn Berger, “Herblock, Cartoonist Who Humbled Mighty, Is Dead at 91”, in The New York Times

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   Her English accent was still noticeable, though hard r's surfaced in it from time to time.

   1978, Margaret Atwood, “Polarities”, in Dancing Girls and other stories, Seal edition, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart-Bantam, →ISBN, page 59

   Rhineland Germans have a soft, back "r," while those in eastern and southern Germany use an alveodental "r," due (one supposes) to the respective influence of the French on the one hand and Slavs or Italians on the other. The "hard r" is said to carry better in an auditorium or on the radio, so performers from the Rhineland must learn to deliver those "theatrical r's."

   1999 March 7, David Mannix, “The Theater Season; Stage Speech”, in The New York Times, page sec. 2 p. 4

   There is both a soft r and a hard r, the latter usually spelled ŕ (ŕege – king).

   2002, Kenneth Katzner, Kirk Miller, “Basque”, in The Languages of the World, 3rd edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 58

   In Blood on the Tracks, Dylan has his r's mostly on half-articulation. Medial and terminal r's are appropriately turned off in the bluesy “Meet Me in the Morning,” but the songs of this album have more hard r's than we've heard in a long time, including some words where we might expect to find the “r” missing: “weather,” “horses,” “heart,” “boxcar door,” “apart,” “anymore."

   2010 April 8, David Pichaske, Song of the North Country: A Midwest Framework to the Songs of Bob Dylan, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 99

   ‘Make sure you hit the hard R’s.’ He was obsessed with R’s. I’m like, OK, arrrre you sure?

   2022 January 28, Dave Itzkoff, “Watch the Throne: How Joel Coen Came to Make ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’”, in The New York Times, page AR16

2. USThe hard r at the end of the word nigger when spoken with a General American accent and considered more offensive than the African-American Vernacular English pronunciation conventionally spelled nigga, whose final sound is sometimes called soft a.

   First and foremost / You are under no circumstances / Ever permitted / To say the n-word / I don't care if it's soft a or hard r

   2016 May 5, MItchell Joseph Sewell, Standpoint: Black Queer Southern Revelations, University of South Carolina - Columbia, Senior Theses. 87, page 45; Tips for a Successful Interracial Relationship

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   While telling the story, Student B said the "N-word". Student A told Student B that using that language was not okay. Student B's response was "It's okay, I don't say it with the hard R."

   2021, Dean of Students Office, “Fall 2021”, in Bias Advisory and Response Team Updates, Xavier University, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2023

   Opinions will continue to differ about the N-word — does pronunciation that ends in a soft “a” versus a hard “r” make a difference?

   2022 January 7, John McWhorter, “Opinion: I Can’t Brook the Idea of Banning ‘Negro’”, in The New York Times

plural hard Rs · alternative hard-R

1. USbroadcastingA movie that is intentionally produced to be R-rated ("Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian") by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), typically due to its multiple scenes of violence or nudity.

   A HARD R rating would seem to be between “R” — which has meant restricted to adults, because of various elements — and “NC-17.”

   2018 July 28, Caitlin Lovinger, “Three in One; Will Nediger’s puzzle breaks it down for us, in a funny way.”, in DAILY CROSSWORD COLUMN, The New York Times

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   Sugar Cookies would probably rate a 'hard-R' today, but six years ago it got an X, made a brief appearance on the 42nd Street porno circuit, and disappeared without a trace.

   1979 January 11, Berkeley Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive, “Sugar Cookies”, in Program archive

   For a "soft R" like "Four Weddings and a Funeral," which features a smattering of profanity, a theater might check identifications only lightly. But it will turn tough for a "hard R" like Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," one of the most violent movies of recent years.

   1996 February 18, Trip Gabriel, “The Ratings Game At the Cineplex”, in The New York Times, page Section 2, Page 1

   I believe we'll hear later from the movie industry's lobbyist, Mr. Valenti, that not all "R"s are really "R"s. More specifically, and I quote from Mr. Valenti's written testimony: "Some R-rated are hard "R"s and some are soft "R"s."

   2003, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Marketing Violence to Children: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Second Session, September 13, 2000, page 51

2. Alternative letter-case form of hard r.