# How is "Gut feeling" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090 "2009-08-11T18:35:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/1 "2009-08-11T18:35:05Z")
On Dateline NBC last night, they were interviewing a woman in her 70’s or 80’s about a suspicious neighbor. Her response: “And I said, this looks exactly like the van that’s been over in that yard for about a week. And you know, I had, excuse my language, but I had a gut feeling, you know, that that was it.” How is “gut feeling” offensive language? I never heard my grandparents throw that qualifier out there for that one, and they used “excuse my language” pretty regularly. The woman in question was from Florida. Does anyone have relatives that considered that term bad language? Is it a Florida thing? (My grandparents were from Oklahoma). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/2 "2009-08-11T18:44:07Z")
Maybe she was just apologizing for using a slang term, not an offensive one? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/3 "2009-08-11T18:44:49Z")
For the lady’s age, I would guess that “gut” was simply considered vulgar. I’m pretty sure that outside specific jargon where it might have a technical menaing, “gut” was one of the words that [_sotto voce_] One Did Not Say In Polite Company [_/sotto voce_]. It was probably a legacy of Victorian speech patterns. Belly and butt would have been other words that were not polite. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/4 "2009-08-11T19:21:54Z")
Perhaps she didn’t want to say aloud that she didn’t like the skin color of the people driving the van and that was what she was really referring to. I’ve seen old people do this and it takes several minutes to figure out that they don’t want to mention race. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/5 "2009-08-11T19:27:41Z")
No, people older than me (I’m in my 50s) often thought “gut” or “guts” was vulgar. You even had football coaches using the term “intestinal fortitude” as a substitute – partly as a joke, but also partly because “guts” was not a word you used in polite company. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/6 "2009-08-11T19:28:30Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > For the lady’s age, I would guess that “gut” was simply considered vulgar. I’m pretty sure that outside specific jargon where it might have a technical menaing, “gut” was one of the words that [_sotto voce_] One Did Not Say In Polite Company [_/sotto voce_]. It was probably a legacy of Victorian speech patterns. Belly and butt would have been other words that were not polite. I had a “black” elementary teacher back in the day that found “belly” to be an extremely offensive word. To the point that I think only the N word could have bothered her more. What made it even odder, is that besides that, she didnt come off as one of those obsessively proper little old ladies from the south. But belly really pushed some button of hers! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/7 "2009-08-11T19:54:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > No, people older than me (I’m in my 50s) often thought “gut” or “guts” was vulgar. You even had football coaches using the term “intestinal fortitude” as a substitute – partly as a joke, but also partly because “guts” was not a word you used in polite company. And now it’s been adapted into ‘testicular fortitude’, because ‘balls’ is not a word for polite company. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/8 "2009-08-11T20:08:48Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > But belly really pushed some button of hers! Her “belly” button? ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/9 "2009-08-11T20:11:07Z")
Another euphemism, from Dickens: > [@](#): > > Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. From A Christmas Carol (1843) This strikes me as being more vulgar than “guts,” for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/10 "2009-08-11T20:18:47Z")
> [@Daithi\_Lacha](#): > > This strikes me as being more vulgar than “guts,” for some reason. Different times, different customs. Bowels was probably the most polite word in use at that time. With the rise of “intestinal” and the assocaiton with “bowel movement,” Bowel has probably shifted into the category of “not really proper outside a clinical situation.” You can find a number of references to the bowels as the seat of emotions in classical literature. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/11 "2009-08-11T20:20:48Z")
My grandmother used “B.M.” rather than bowel movement. That one took me a while to work out. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/12 "2009-08-11T21:31:55Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > My grandmother used “B.M.” rather than bowel movement. That one took me a while to work out. I once had a mature female **doctor,** of all people, who wanted to ask about my bowel movements, asking me if I had ‘gone to the toilet with paper’. I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. This was in the early 80s, in the UK. So I guess any reference to bodily functions, for ‘some’ people of a certain age, is a no-no. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/13 "2009-08-11T21:37:51Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I once had a mature female **doctor,** of all people, who wanted to ask about my bowel movements, asking me if I had ‘gone to the toilet with paper’. “Yes, but I didn’t come out with it, if you know what I mean.” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/14 "2009-08-11T23:07:25Z")
> [@Daithi\_Lacha](#): > > Another euphemism, from Dickens: > > From A Christmas Carol (1843) > > > [@](#): > > > > Scrooge had often heard it said that Marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. > > This strikes me as being more vulgar than “guts,” for some reason. My _Annotated Christmas Carol_ says the bowels were at one time believed to be the source of compassion. It gives the example of 1 John 3:17 (KJV) - “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” The word/phrase for “of compassion” is not in the Greek. The Greek for “bowels” is. Here are the OED’s two earliest cites for this sense. > [@](#): > > 1382 WYCLIF Phil. i. 8 Hou I coueite {ygh}ou alle in the bowelis of Jhesu Crist. c1440 Gesta Rom. 24 Whenne she sawe his blody serke, all her bowelis weere troubelyd more than tunge may telle. ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/15 "2009-08-11T23:19:31Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > You can find a number of references to the bowels as the seat of emotions in classical literature. From before scientists discovered that it was really the heart. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/16 "2009-08-11T23:22:00Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > My _Annotated Christmas Carol_ says the bowels were at one time believed to be the source of compassion. It gives the example of 1 John 3:17 (KJV) - “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” > > The word/phrase for “of compassion” is not in the Greek. The Greek for “bowels” is. > > Here are the OED’s two earliest cites for this sense. I think you have solved a different mystery: why someone who cares “gives a shit.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/17 "2009-08-12T15:43:12Z")
In terms of semantics, there’s huge difference between the phrases “spill my guts” and “drain my bowels!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/18 "2009-08-12T15:50:08Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I once had a mature female **doctor,** of all people, who wanted to ask about my bowel movements, asking me if I had ‘gone to the toilet with paper’. I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. This was in the early 80s, in the UK. Correct answer, then, would have been “Yup, got through all of the _Sun_ and half of the _Racing Post_.” 🙂 I think there was, in the past, quite a lot of prudery about mentioning parts of the body in polite company. After all, bodies are made of flesh, and flesh equals SIN! I seem to recall a sketch by Harry Enfield (?) that touched on this, with a prim and proper wife of a certain age berating his husband for complaining of a stomach ache or something: “Roy, you WILL not mention body parts in public…” ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/19 "2009-08-12T21:28:23Z")
This is weird, 'cause yesterday I was watching a DVD of an Australian soap opera _Prisoner_ (Called _Prisoner: Cell Block H_ elsewhere), said “Top Dog” Bea Smith the same thing “just a gut feeling” to “evil” warder Joan and Joan says “OK Smith, you’re on a charge, let’s see the governor.” Bea says “What for?” And Joan says “offensive language.” So “gut” must be a little more than impoliet, at least by 1980s TV standards in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090/20 "2009-08-13T00:26:26Z")
I remember being scolded as a child for saying this other kid was gutless. This was in the late 60’s and I was told by an adult to instead say he had no backbone. So, yeah, at one time gut or guts was considered impolite wordage. To which I respond :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:!!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-gut-feeling-offensive/506090.md?page=2)