Green’s Dictionary of Slang

extremely uncouth.

2003

McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 175: Teens now use the shortened version ‘rough as’. ANZ.

extremely ill-disciplined .

2011

Times Review 30 Apr. 3/1: He was sent to an inner London comprehensive school [...] that was at that time ‘rough as arseholes’.

bristly, straggly, coarse; also in fig. use.

1713		W. King York Spy 68: I produc’d a Microscope, and shew’d him the Girl’s Face in a true light, which appear’d to be as rough as a Bears Arse.
1818		Cheltenham Chron. 2 Apr. 1/2: A pair of jack boots, oh, they bade me be cleaning, / As rough as a badger their surfaces were.
1836		Berks. Chron. 30 July 4/5: A squat, bow-legged figure, witha head of hair as rough as a badger’s back.
1837		‘Do You See Anything Green About Me’ in Sam Weller’s Favorite Song Book 8: A Clod-hopping country clown, / And rough as a badger was I, / When I first arrived up in town.
1842		S. Lover Handy Andy 317: His tongue was ‘as rough as a rat’s back’ while his companions [...] theirs were as ‘dry as a lime-burner’s wig.’.
1843		Morn. Post 18 Mar. 5/5: Old Isaac cannot run at Warwick without being drawn; rough as a badger twice drawn they yet took 3 to 1 about him for the handicap.
1857		Morn. Post 25 Dec. 3/5: He has on his head a cap of coon skin [...] ‘as rough as a badger’s back’.
1862		Sheffield Indep. 5 Aug. 8/5: Nothing more thahn a bag of bones [...] with a coat as rough as a badger.
1865		Carlisle Jrnl 22 Dec. 6/1: Their hair hanging loosely about their shoulders, as rough as a badger’s back.
1888		J. Runciman Chequers 186: The cob’s out of condition, and rough as a badger.
1890		Hants Advertiser 19 Mar. 1/6: I heard the organist tell a friend that the tone of the blessed thing was as rough as a badger’s back after a bathe.
1892		Hull Dly Mail 5 Oct. 3/5: ‘Rough as a badger’ [...] probably refers only to the coat of the animal. In his manners, at least, the badger appears [...] to be without reproach.
1894		G.F. Northall Folk-Phrases of Four Counties 10: As rough as a bear’s backside.
1933		Western Dly Press 27 Dec. 4/6: In the traditional ‘rough as a badger’ style, villagers of Ilchester [...] joined in a Christmas badger supper.
1946		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 23 Aug. 4/3: Rough as a badger, Walter is, with gurt hands like a shoulder o’ mutton.
1982		L. Thomas Magic Army 371: ‘What a mob,’ he said to one of his comrades. ‘Rough as a badger’s arse.’.
1985		D. MacSweeney Jesus Mary Delahunty 93: The face looked as rough as a badger’s arse. It put him in mind of the head of John the Baptist just before he lost it.
1998		J. O’Connor Salesman 99: ‘You look rough,’ I told him. ‘I feel rough as a bear’s arse,’ he laughed. ‘Was out on the pull last night.’.
1998		K. Noble Baghdad Trucker 85: It was impossible to speak properly due to my tongue being as rough as a badger’s arse.
1998		E. Crowley Technical Virgins 22: You should see the men’s boots the first time they’re issued. Rough as a badger’s arse they are. Have to be soaked in piss.
2001		Guardian G2 13 June 22: Things are as rough as a badger’s bottom for Larkhall’s inmates with the mostest.
2003		Maximum Rocknroll No. 238 n.p.: Their early singles were rough as a badger’s arse but still held together enough to be punk gems.
2008		S. Packham Opposite Bastard 142: I feel as rough as a badger’s arse. My eyes won’t open properly, this classical-music bollocks is doing my head in.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 262: Ah’m starting tae feel badger’s-erse rough.
2021		Twitter 30 Mar. 🌐 My hubby is from Northern Tyneside Fortunately he escaped They are rough as badgers arses.

(Aus./N.Z.) uncouth, ill-mannered.

1919		Sun. Times (Perth) 9 Mar. 7/4: ‘Rough as bags,’ or ‘rough as goats’ knees’ is often heard when he is describing someone who falls short of his standard.
1919		W.H. Downing Digger Dialects 42: rough as bags — See ‘rough stuff.’.
1929		K.S. Prichard Coonardoo 22: Ted was rough as bags.
1934		T. Wood Cobbers 19: He was a trimmer – rough as bags, and as rich as you like.
1939		Argus (Melbourne) 5 Aug. 4/1: He’s six feet tall, as rough as bags and fights to music.
1941		Baker N.Z. Sl. 53: [20th cent. N.Z. slang includes] rough as a bag (the Australians also have rough as bags), and rough as a pig’s breakfast.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 61: Rough as a sandbag, as for next. Rough as bags, rough as a bag, unpolished, crude, coarse. Esp. applied to persons. ‘Rough as a pig’s breakfast’ is an equivalent.
1955		P. White Tree of Man (1956) 18: There were people in that place who said that Mrs. Fibbens was as rough as bags.
1964		P. White Burnt Ones 306: ‘They’re rough as bags,’ Lummy explained.
1972		G.W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Aus. and N.Z. 98: There is simile [...] ‘rough as bags’ (which I know better as the variant ‘rough as sacks’).
1982		N. Keesing Lily on the Dustbin 32: Don’t go being all Melbourne snob with old Gloria . . . she’s rough as bags but sharp, too.
2000		Ozwords Apr. 2: It is also in First World War Australian military contexts that many Australian idioms are first recorded: his blood’s worth bottling, give it a burl, hop in for one’s chop, come a gutser, rough as bags.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 175: rough as [...] bags [...] Uncouth, crude or untidy; some of many versions from late C19 ANZ.

(US) very rough.

1943		W. Guthrie Bound for Glory (1969) 19: Rougher than a cob. Wilder than a woodchuck [...] Mixed-up, screwed-up people.
1966		‘Tom Pendleton’ Iron Orchard (1967) 12: This ’yere oil field work ain’t no C.C.C. camp, son. It’s rougher’n a cob.
1973		C. Gaines Stay Hungry 19: Some of these boys are rough as a cob. Uneducated.
2003		Citizen Online, GA 16 Sept. 🌐 I have heard people who lacked the cultural niceties referred to as being ‘rough as a cob,’ a reference to a particular use rural Georgians made of corn cobs, or ‘as rough as five miles of Alabama asphalt.’.
2013		F. Bill Donnybrook [ebook] ‘I remember old McGill [...] Lots say he’s rougher than a cob’.

(Aus./N.Z.) uncouth, ill-mannered.

1935		(con. WWI) Newcastle Morn. Herald (NSW) 30 Mar. 17/4: What did you imagine the life of a soldier in France to be like? There are no feather beds here, and the tucker is generally as rough as a pig’s breakfast.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 61: rough as a pig’s breakfast.
1955		N. Pulliam I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 238/1: rough as a pig’s breakfast – crude, uncouth.
1980		Canberra Times (ACT) 25 Oct. 14/4: Who but lax and lame sub-editors care if the language of the news [...] lapses from the code of middle-class morality and the conventions of ‘good English’? Who, in brief, cares if the language of the news is as rough as a pig’s breakfast?
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 175: rough as [...] a dog’s or pig’s breakfast [...] Uncouth, crude or untidy; some of many versions from late C19 ANZ.

(N.Z.) very rough.

1939		(con. mid-19C) Beattie First White Boy Born in Otago 97: [Sugar] came in mats, the big ones weighing 180 lbs, and was often called ‘mat sugar’. This mat was native made [...] and was pretty well square. Outside this mat, and covering it, was a coarse bag called a soojee (or suji?) bag. A familiar saying of the early days was, ‘As rough as a soojee bag’, and this saying was applied to both people and things [DNZE].
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 175: rough as [...] a soujee bag [...] Uncouth, crude or untidy; some of many versions from late C19 ANZ.

1. lacking in refinement (usu. fig. but also lit.).

1944		in A. Campbell Island To Island (1984) 98: We’ve got a great crowd here — they’re rough as guts.
1953		I. Hamilton Till Human Voices Wake Us 45: The only thing he knew was physical violence [...] They were both as rough as guts.
1969		L. Hadow Full Cycle 141: ‘He’s a bit rough, isn’t he?’ Frank said quietly. ‘Too muggin’ right he’s rough’ [...] ‘Rough as guts.’.
1972		A. Chipper Aussie Swearers Guide 48: Rough as Guts. Save this one for the unpolished performance or performer.
1985		B. Humphries Traveller’s Tool 132: I doubt if anyone from England or even the States, where they’re as rough as guts, would take that claim seriously.
1997		L. Davies Candy 8: It’s [i.e. a brand of heroin] alkaline, and you could say rough as guts.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 175: rough as [...] guts [...] Uncouth, crude or untidy; some of many versions from late C19 ANZ.
2004		(con. 1960s-70s) T. Taylor Top Fellas 22/1: They were rough as guts working class.
2009		T. Black Gutted 79: There I was. Me. Gus Dury. Rough as all guts. Face still bruised and battered.

2. a phr. of admiration, praising the ‘rough diamond’ who may be vulgar but remains tough and ingenious and ultimately successful.

1991		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper From The Inside 15: I don’t think it is really blood-hatred racism but more a part of the ‘rough as guts’ Australian sense of humor, part of the Australian culture and attitude.
2005		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper 4 39: It’s all part of the rough-as-guts Aussie humor.
2018		G. Disher Kill Shot [ebook] ‘Mick’s rough as guts. But he does know what he’s doing’.

(N.Z.) very rough.

1943		J.A.W. Bennett ‘Eng. as it is Spoken in N.Z.’ in AS XVIII:2 Apr. 91: The Australian ‘rough as bags’ has become ‘rough as sacks.’.
1966		in G.W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Aus. and N.Z.
1972		G.W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Aus. and N.Z. 98: There is simile [...] ‘rough as bags’ (which I know better as the variant ‘rough as sacks’).
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 175: rough as [...] sacks Uncouth, crude or untidy; some of many versions from late C19 ANZ.

(Aus.) guilty of performing an offensive action or telling exaggerated stories.

1919

Aussie (France) XIII Apr. 2/2: I know that most Diggers will reckon that I’m as rough as sandbags to spring these two tales on them, but I’m willing to stake my deferred pay that they’re dinkum.