Meaning
Deeply ingrained ways of behaving are difficult to change or abandon, so people keep repeating familiar routines even when circumstances, preferences or intentions have moved on. It usually excuses or predicts a relapse into long-practised behaviour. Informal and forgiving in tone; normally said of oneself or excused in others rather than as an insult. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The exact origin is unknown. Gregory Titelman's America's Popular Proverbs and Sayings claims a first use before 1450, but the reference behind that date is unverified, and reference sites repeat it only with caveats. The earliest solid citation usually given is Benjamin Franklin's remark 'Habits are hard to break', printed in the London Chronicle on 26-28 December 1758, which the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs records under 'habits die hard'. The exact modern wording appears to have settled during the nineteenth century. The saying builds on the older verb phrase 'die hard', to resist stubbornly to the very end.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- an old habit dies hard
- habits die hard
- old customs die hard
- old habits are hard to break
Usage Examples
- Old habits die hard: even after moving abroad, he still made tea at exactly four o'clock.
- She had retired a year earlier, but old habits die hard and she still checked the overnight figures at six.
- I promised to stop correcting people's grammar, yet old habits die hard.