Rough

Rough's original meaning in our slang, I believe, had a negative connotation. Synonyms: "bummer", "no good", "ouch", et cetera:

X: I got a 60 on the Algebra and Geometry test.
Y: That's rough, guy.

X: I don't have enough cash on me to buy lunch.
Y: Yo, that's rough, guy.

X: I hear he doesn't have a date to the formal.
Y: Yo guy, that's rough.

Of course, this negative connotation of "rough" existed outside of the sick, twisted world of our high school. Such responses might even make sense to an outside observer. (It wouldn't matter if X were male or female, by the way. If Y is a male, he'll say "guy" no matter what.)

But somehow, some God-only-knows way, "rough" came to have a positive connotation:

X: I got a 95 on the Algebra and Geometry test.
Y: That's rough, guy!

X: I just got back from lunch. I had some nice pizza.
Y: Yo, that's rough, guy!

X: I hear he's got two dates to the formal.
Y: Yo guy, that's rough!

Somehow we were smart enough to constantly utilize one word with two opposite meanings and avoid confusion. That's got to be a testament to our education. This last meaning makes no sense at all to the untrained mind. Case in point: I was up in New Hampshire, visiting the college I was going to go to, when I purchased an item, and, instinctively expecting sales tax, I asked the cashier how much it was.

X: There's no sales tax in New Hampshire.
Y: No sales tax? That's rough!
...
X: Rough? What are you talking about? That's good!
Y: Uh, yeah, see...where I went to high school, "rough" means "good".

Then he asked me where I went to high school, and I told him near Toronto, but I hastened to add that I grew up in the United Sates, lest he give me a "silly-Canadians-and-their-meaningless-slang" look.

So, what do you think, is this write-up rough?

Rough (?), a. [Compar. Rougher (?); superl. Roughest.] [OE. rou, rou, row, rugh, ruh, AS. rh; akin to LG. rug, D. rug, D. ruig, ruw, OHG. rh, G. rauh, rauch; cf. Lith. raukas wrinkle, rukti to wrinkle. &root; 18. Cf. Rug, n.]

1.

Having inequalities, small ridges, or points, on the surface; not smooth or plain; as, a rough board; a rough stone; rough cloth.

1. Not level; having a broken surface; uneven; -- said of a piece of land, or of a road.
   "Rough, uneven ways."
   Shak.
2. Not polished; uncut; -- said of a gem; as, a rough diamond.
3. Tossed in waves; boisterous; high; -- said of a sea or other piece of water.
   

   More unequal than the roughest sea.
   T. Burnet.

4. Marked by coarseness; shaggy; ragged; disordered; -- said of dress, appearance, or the like; as, a rough coat.
   "A visage rough." Dryden.
   "Roughsatyrs." Milton.

2.

Hence, figuratively, lacking refinement, gentleness, or polish.

1. Not courteous or kind; harsh; rude; uncivil; as, a rough temper.

   A fiend, a fury, pitiless and rough.
   Shak.

   A surly boatman, rough as wayes or winds.
   Prior.

2. Marked by severity or violence; harsh; hard; as, rough measures or actions.

   On the rough edge of battle.
   Milton.

   A quicker and rougher remedy.
   Clarendon.

   Kind words prevent a good deal of that perverseness which rough and imperious usage often produces.
   Locke.

3. Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating; -- said of sound, voice, and the like; as, a rough tone; rough numbers.
   Pope.
4. Austere; harsh to the taste; as, rough wine.
5. Tempestuous; boisterous; stormy; as, rough weather; a rough day.

   He stayeth his rough wind.
   Isa. xxvii. 8.

   Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
   Shak.

6. Hastily or carelessly done; wanting finish; incomplete; as, a rough estimate; a rough draught.

Rough diamond, an uncut diamond; hence, colloquially, a person of intrinsic worth under a rude exterior. -- Rough and ready.

1. Acting with offhand promptness and efficiency.
   "The rough and ready understanding."
   Lowell.
2. Produced offhand.
   "Some rough and ready theory."
   Tylor.

© Webster 1913.

Rough, n.

1.

Boisterous weather.

Fletcher.

2.

A rude fellow; a coarse bully; a rowdy.

In the rough, in an unwrought or rude condition; unpolished; as, a diamond or a sketch in the rough.

Contemplating the people in the rough.
Mrs. Browning.

© Webster 1913.

Rough, adv.

In a rough manner; rudely; roughly.

Sleeping rough on the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats.
Sir W. Scott.

© Webster 1913.

Rough, v. t.

1.

To render rough; to roughen.

2.

To break in, as a horse, especially for military purposes.

Crabb.

3.

To cut or make in a hasty, rough manner; -- with out; as, to rough out a carving, a sketch.

Roughing rolls, rolls for reducing, in a rough manner, a bloom of iron to bars. -- To rough it, to endure hard conditions of living; to live without ordinary comforts.

© Webster 1913.