strong like ball

[Beverly Flanigan]

At 09:56 PM 3/1/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>On Mar 1, 2005, at 7:37 PM, Gordon, Matthew J. wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
>>Subject:      strong like ball
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>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

I think it was coarse in my family; we gutted fish, and animal guts were
vile.  But then, my mother was the type who said, "Don't say pee, say urinate!"