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Reader question: What does it mean exactly when the teacher says that “your question is a tough cookie”? My comments: You’ve asked your teacher a difficult question, that’s all. You’ve asked a question the teacher doesn’t seem to have a ready answer for. Your question is, in other words, a tough nut to crack. That’s about it. “Tough cookie” is an American expression that is mostly used to describe a person, though. When they say so-and-so is a tough cookie, they mean to say he or she is a strong and determined person. Like a tough nut to crack, people who are tough cookies are difficult to sway and persuade. You cannot change their mind and alter their attitude. Not easily, at any rate. Literally, a tough cookie may just be one that’s dried up after being exposed to the air – as cookies are wont to do in wintertime here in Beijing. Unlike the soft delicacies they are when freshly taken out of the oven, dried cookies are hardened up and therefore tough to chew. Like a tough nut, it takes work plus time and patience if you really want to eat it. But you do want to eat it, I suppose, cookies being cookies. So, take it as a compliment that your teacher considers your question a “tough cookie”. The teacher may not have a ready answer for it, but he (or she) does want to answer it – in some way and after some time. Perhaps the teacher will come up with a good answer after having worked on it awhile. | 
