Reference

The Hardman Dictionary

The garment carries two words. This is what they mean, and what the words around them mean, for anyone reading from somewhere the vowels do not carry.

12 entries. British English throughout. Most of these are compliments, including the ones that do not look like compliments, and the difference is almost never in the words.

01 Proper: Completely, genuinely, without qualification. A proper hardman is not a fairly hard man. It is the strongest word in the sentence and it is doing all the work.
02 Hardman: A man who is understood to be hard. Note that hardness is a reputation rather than a measurement, which is why it can be claimed and why claiming it is the entire problem.
03 Hard nut: The same thing, said more fondly. Usually about someone who is not present.
04 Mate: Used as punctuation. Placed at the end of a sentence it can mean friend, or it can mean the opposite, and the difference is carried entirely by the vowel.
05 You having a laugh: A question that is not a question. It means the speaker has understood you perfectly and objects.
06 Absolute unit: A compliment. The highest one available. It refers to size and is never about height.
07 Come on then: An invitation to fight, issued with no intention of fighting, by someone who is already being held back by a friend.
08 Graft: Work, specifically hard and unglamorous work. To be a grafter is to be beyond criticism.
09 Wrong'un: Someone not to be trusted. Delivered quietly and taken as settled.
10 Sound: Fine, good, agreed, and no further discussion is needed. One syllable that closes a conversation.
11 Built like a brick outhouse: Very large and structurally sound. Said with approval, usually across a car park.
12 To be fair: A phrase placed before a concession, so that the concession does not count as losing.

Not a complete list. It is not a complete language, either. It is added to when a word earns its place.