strong like ball

[Wilson Gray]

As is usual with me, I can't provide a cite, but my grandparents, born
in the 1870's, used the term "greedy-gut" as a synonym for "glutton" in
the figurative sense.

-Wilson Gray

On Mar 2, 2005, at 9:26 PM, James C Stalker wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       James C Stalker <stalker at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: strong like ball
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Just because I have my Farmer and Henley at hand, would you consder the
> following to be figurative/metaphorical?
>
> To fret one's guts:...to worry
> To have plenty of guts, but no bowels:  To be unfeeling, hard,
> merciless.
>
> Farmer and Henley: "gut"
>
> Jim Stalker
>
> Jonathan Lighter writes:
>
>> And anyone who can supply 19th C. exx. of "guts" in a figurative
>> sense should please do so.
>> In the days before search engines and databases, I couldn't find much.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: "Baker, John"
>> Subject: Re: strong like ball
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ---------
>>
>> Yes, "guts" used to be considered coarse. Here's an illustrative
>> quotation from Richard Grant White, A Desultory Denunciation of
>> English Dictionaries, in The Galaxy (1869), via Cornell University
>> Making of America:
>>
>> <>
>>
>> Here's an 11/22/1928 use of "intestinal fortitude" from the online
>> Harvard Crimson (Merriam-Webster has c. 1937), which also illustrates
>> the point:
>>
>> <>
>>
>>
>> John Baker
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On
>> Behalf
>> Of Gordon, Matthew J.
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 7:38 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.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." Does the evidence suggest it
>> arose as a deliberately funny coinage? I see OED has a 1945 citation
>> from Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy.
>>
>> Also, was "guts" seen as vulgar or coarse at some time? Today it
>> seems mostly just informal.
>>
>> -Matt Gordon
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> James C. Stalker
> Department of English
> Michigan State University
>