ne'er-do-well vs tough cookie

ne'er-do-well

noun
  • A person without a means of support; an idle, worthless person; a loafer; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; a good-for-nothing. 

  • A person who is up to no good; a rogue. 

adj
  • Showing the characteristics of a ne'er-do-well: indolent, worthless, or roguish. 

tough cookie

noun
  • A person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person. 

  • A hardy, resilient animal or plant. 

  • Something troublesome or difficult to handle. 

How often have the words ne'er-do-well and tough cookie occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )