hearty » hardy

Chiefly in:   party hardy , hardily

Classification: English – nearly mainstream – /t/-flapping

Spotted in the wild:

  • And apparently this was the case because the Phi Delts had in fact been told to watch themselves because they have a reputation on campus for being a “party-hardy” fraternity. (University of LaVerne Campus Times, Sep. 27, 2002)
  • ‘Hey, is the phrase ‘party hardy,’ h-a-r-d-y, or is it ‘party hearty,’ h-e-a-r-t-y?’ ‘Party hardy,’ Tony answered, after thinking for a moment. ‘Like the Boys.’ ‘Hmmm. I always thought hearty. Like you’re putting your whole heart into the partying.’ Tony nodded, conceding Mikey’s point. (The Morning News, Nov. 7, 2002)
  • The lyrics follow the party-hardy style of The Strokes or other new rock bands, but the music is still rooted in lush musical imagery and a soft-rock piano accompaniment. (Macalester College Mac Weekly, Oct. 22, 2004)
  • I’m ambivalent on that one, as I can see an argument made for seeing it in context, but I hardily dislike the “improved” Google Groups UI for threaded view, which I find much harder to read). (soc.motss, Aug. 22, 2005)

Analyzed or reported by:

Web usage runs about 1.3:1 in favor of party hearty. The hardy variant has been popular at least since the ’70s (see, e.g., the song “Party Hardy” by the funk band Slave released in 1977, the same year that another funk band, L.T.D., released “We Party Hearty”). The variant with hardy is clearly influenced by party hard.

[Added, Aug. 23, 2005:] As for hardily, the example above appeared in a soc.motss discussion about the Eggcorn Database, ironically enough. Google finds this form appearing quite frequently in such collocations as hardily recommend, hardily agree, and laugh hardily.

See also hardy » hearty.

| link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/02/20 |

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