Mike hauls down the sidewalk.
Mike walks down the sidewalk.What is the difference? Dictionary says haul means pull or drag with effort. So how can haul be used instead of walk? The context is simply “Mike walks”, that’s all: he isn’t pulling anything.
Answer
Haul can also mean to go fast, by extension from (or really, as an ellipsis of) the slang term “haul ass”.
— haul ass
often vulgar: to move quickly
That said, “Mike hauls down the sidewalk” is not the usual way to use this slang expression. I’d expect at least a “really” or other intensifier in there.
Mike was really hauling down the sidewalk.
This makes it a little bit more clear that what you’re doing is using the “haul ass” expression, but leaving out the “ass” part in an attempt to avoid outright vulgarity.
(As FumbleFingers noted, “haul [ass]” is not a common expression. It is not a synonym of “walk” in any useful sense. Unless you’re really trying to drive a point across, I would suggest avoiding it. And for heaven’s sake, don’t use it on a school paper or in any other formal context!)
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : T2E , Answer Author : Martha
