kova pähkinä purtavaksi

Finnish

Alternative forms

• kova pähkinä

Etymology

kova (“hard, tough”) + pähkinä (“nut”) + purtavaksi (“to bite, for biting”)

Phrase

kova pähkinä purtavaksi

1. (idiomatic) hard nut to crack, tough nut to crack, (problem that is challenging to solve)
2. (idiomatic) hard nut to crack, tough nut to crack (situation, person, group, etc. which is difficult to overcome or deal with)