[hard.ly] adv (bef. 12c) 1: with force: vigorously
2: in a severe manner: harshly
3: with difficulty: painfully
4. a--used to emphasize a minimal amount "I ~ knew her" "almost new -- ~ a scratch on it" b--used to soften a negative "you can't ~ tell who anyone is --G. B. Shaw"
5: certainly not "that news is ~ surprising" usage Hardly in sense
5. is used sometimes with not for emphasis "just another day at the office? Not hardly". In sense 4b with a negative verb (as can't, wouldn't, didn't) it does not make a double negative but softens the negative. In "you can't hardly find a red one," the sense is that you can find a red one, but only with difficulty; in "you can't find a red one," the sense is that red ones are simply not available. Use of hardly with a negative verb is a speech form; it is most commonly heard in Southern and Midland speech areas. In other speech areas and in all discursive prose, hardly is normally used with a positive "you can hardly find a red one".