Hustle

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Hustle

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

verb and noun

Pronunciation

HUS-ul  /ˈhʌs(ə)l/

Definition

As a verb: to push or shove someone roughly; to cause someone to move hurriedly; to work energetically and ambitiously; to obtain money by energetic or underhanded means; to swindle or fraud. As a noun: a state of energetic busy activity; a fraud or swindle; (informal, especially American) hard-driving work ethic and entrepreneurial energy.

Plain meaning

Hustle has several meanings. To hustle someone means to push them or make them hurry. Hustle as a con means to swindle someone, as in a pool hustle. In contemporary use, hustle culture refers to the ethic of working extremely hard and always being productive. The hustle is also a 1970s disco dance.

Register

Informal across most senses. The work-ethic sense is particularly associated with American entrepreneurial and social media culture. The con/fraud sense is informal and slightly criminal in implication. The physical pushing sense is neutral.