concrete-head

English

Etymology

Purportedly from a calque of Japanese 頭(あたま)が固(かた)い (atama ga katai, “resistant to new ways of thinking”, literally “having a hard head”). Possibly originally from unattested Taiwanese Japanese *頭(あたま)コンクリート (atama konkurīto, literally “concrete-head”), which can be reconstructed from the phonetic borrowing of Taiwanese Mandarin 阿達馬孔固力／阿达马孔固力 (ādámǎ kǒnggùlì, “concrete-head”).

Noun

concrete-head (plural concrete-heads)

(derogatory)

1. (colloquial, humorous) A stupid person; sometimes one who is being stubborn to the point of stupidity.
   • 2004 January 5, Rainy, “Does anyone know”, in alt.fan.keanu-reeves‎^[1] (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-02:

     As far as I can determine, I am a bleeding heart liberal. Personally I think that's way preferable over a concrete-head conservative, if given a choice between the two.

   • 2014 September 19, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Black & Orange, Bad Moon Books Digital:

     "So get dressed and stop scowling. I'll tell you about it later." He hoped that would be enough but her scowl deepened. He met it with a grin. "I regret nothing."
     "Of course not, you're a concrete-head. Have you heard anything from Enrique?"

   • 2016 July 7, Wesley Chu, Time Siege, Duncan Baird Publishers, →ISBN:

     It had taken his little ten year-old sister telling him to stop being a concrete-head to get him to fly across the solar system. Now, the only thing keeping him from returning to the two most important people in his life was this asshole dragging his heels.

2. (management, slang) A person who is stuck in their ways; one who is unwilling to try new ideas.

Translations

Translations

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 阿達馬孔固力／阿达马孔固力 (zh) (ādámǎ kǒnggùlì), 阿搭馬孔固力／阿搭马孔固力 (zh) (ādāmǎ kǒnggùlì)