(noun, slang — Australian-Irish, satirical)
1. A tongue-in-cheek, humorous term used to refer to an
Irish person, originally used
sarcastically to suggest they are “hardly Irish” at all—typically playing on accent or behaviour in a joking, ironic way.
2. By stereotype, often imagined as someone who drives an old Toyota or
Volkswagen, wears a GAA jersey most days, and is frequently found in groups around Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
“ He reckons he’s not like the rest of them, but rocking up to Coogee in an old E60 BMW with a county jersey and a crew beside him—hardly”
“Walk past Big Dave
in the morning time and you’ll spot a group of hardlies—county jerseys on, leaning against
a couple of old VWs,
carrying on like they own the place.”