"Nut up"

[Wilson Gray]

Just heard "nut up" used on the Daily Show with the meaning "man up."

When I was a teener in Saint Louis in the 'Fifties, "nut up" meant to
laugh demonstratively, å la mode de Sammy Davis, Jr.

It's interesting that the motivation of each slang meaning is
crystal-clear: nut = "testicle" and "emotionally-disturbed person."

-Wilson

--
Everybody says, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange
complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
Whoever has lived long enough to find out what life is knows how deep
a debt of gratitude we owe to Adam, the first great benefactor of our
race. He brought death into the world.

--Sam Clemens

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org