I was thinking about this the other day actually. Looks like you posted this about the same time! I was thinking what a cool title it was for an action movie. I thought it meant that it is hard for the baddies to kill McClane. He keeps staying alive, getting away and causing them more bother.
shareThat's what I thought too.
sharecause he's hard to kill?
shareIn Spanish it's translated to "Duro de Matar" = "Hard To Kill".
So I always saw it as the bad guys not being able to kill McClane throughout the movie.
Russian name translates to "Toughie", following the "hard to kill" direction.
But some others are completely different:
French title is "Piège de cristal" = "Crystal Trap" (Italian "Trappola di cristallo" means the same)
German title "Stirb langsam" = "Die slowly" (lost in translation)
In Castilian Spanish (Spain), the title is "Jungla de cristal" (Crystal jungle, or Glass jungle). I guess "Duro de matar" must be the Latin American translation.
shareLike that 1990 Steven Seagal movie, right?
shareFor starters, the expression "die hard" predates the film by decades, and dates back to 1811. It was, and is, a very common phrase, meaning one who is tough, and refuses to quit, and can't be killed in battle. I think the implication is clear-- John McClane is a die hard, tough guy cop who can't be killed, no matter how hard the criminals try.
sharespot on.
you cant "interpret" the meaning of the title as the title is already in use, with a meaning.
e.g.
"The die hard apple fanboys were queueing in the snow for two days outside the store"
"Die Hard" phrase implies stubbornness, fanatically committed to a cause despite all odds, etc., as in "she is a die-hard fan" or "he is a die-hard liberal." I think these attributes are befitting to Jonn McClane's character in the movie.
shareI always read the title as 'The Hard' probably because of all the Germans in it.
shareIt's called Die Hard because they didn't want to use the book title 'Nothing Lasts Forever' so Joel silver asked Shane black if he could use it as Shane had dropped that as the original name for the Last boy Scout script.
As for what does it mean? It could be that it refers to McClane being fanatically determined or devoted to his job as a cop.