hard going

comparative harder going · superlative hardest going

1. especiallyDifficult to understand and enjoy.

   Later passages, like this one on computer programming languages, are harder going: […]

   2024 December 18, Daisy Fried, “The History of Poetry, From the Bronze Age to A.I., in a Single Poem”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Dec 2024

   1 more example

   THE CONCISE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF WORLD RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES. Edited by P. Ransome-Wallis. Hutchinson. 50s. […] Its only noticeable defect is inconsistency in presentation and loose editing, which make its use harder going for the amateur than need be.

   1960 January, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 26

2. Difficult and requiring a lot of effort.