strong like ball

[Wilson Gray]

On Mar 1, 2005, at 7:37 PM, Gordon, Matthew J. wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
> Subject:      strong like ball
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> I heard a new-to-me phrase on the radio: "testicular fortitude" which
> I took to be a form of "intestinal fortitude" gone south. The context
> was a local sports program discussing a particular coach. As expected,
> Google show 11k hits for it (cf. 63k for "intestinal fortitude").
>
> While I'm at it, I'd always thought of "intestinal fortitude" as a
> humorously formal alternative to "guts."

FWIW, I've always thought the same.

>  Does the evidence suggest it arose as a deliberately funny coinage?

I have no idea, but I've always assumed that to be the case from the
time that I first recall hearing it, ca. 1945-50.

>  I see OED has a 1945 citation from Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy.
>
> Also, was "guts" seen as vulgar or coarse at some time?

AFAIK, no.

-Wilson Gray

>  Today it seems mostly just informal.
>
> -Matt Gordon
>