hard r
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.13 in modern English
Meaning
noun
A 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.
American usage
noun
Alternative letter-case form of hard r.
noun
A 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.
Informal
noun
The 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.
American usage
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "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.""
- "A HARD R rating would seem to be between “R” — which has meant restricted to adults, because of various elements — and “NC-17.”"
- "Her English accent was still noticeable, though hard r's surfaced in it from time to time."
- "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.""