History is cyclical, and so far, every generation has complained that kids are breaking cultural taboos, changing norms, or ruining their minds with violent movies like that one 1988 Christmas flick with Bruce Willis. These debates are pretty silly, though, when you stop to consider that almost anything that today's culture deems "gruesome" is still a lot less violent than the horrific things your ancestors did for fun.
Case in point? Public hangings. Yeah, that's right. Not that long ago, everybody's favorite family event was to line up with your kid on your shoulders and cheer as the latest convict is choked to death in front of you. Now, back in the 1700s, according to Phrase Finder, these hangings didn't yet use the "drop" method everyone knows today. No quick drop means that the hanging takes longer and is more painful, which resulted in a lot of individuals flailing, thrashing, and generally struggling to survive as the rope tightened around their throats.
These folks came to be recognized as "die-hards," since they died hard, rather than easily. By the 1800s, the term spread to the battlefield, as "die hard" evolved to mean fighting to the bitter end. The general connection between dying hard and stubbornness persisted to the present day. Now, the term describes Star Wars fans who still complain about how The Phantom Menace killed their childhood.
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