# Song Lyrics Question About Grease **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263 "2016-08-28T12:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pianodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e79b87/32.png) [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/1 "2016-08-28T12:15:02Z")
Hi SD, How many times have I accompanied the show “Grease” on piano? Dozens. And yet, I still have this question. In “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” the mocking song Rizzo sings about Sandy, she states: “As for you, Troy Donahue, I know what you wanna do, you’ve got your crust, I’m no object of lust, I’m just plain Sandra Dee.” What does that lyric mean “You’ve got your crust?” I have never heard that word used in that context before. I’ve heard of crusty old men, but I equate that to grizzled and/or grouchy or hardhearted. Thanks, Dave ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/2 "2016-08-28T12:33:46Z")
I think they were really reaching for a rhyme here, but a quick check of the Internet shows that “crusty” can also mean rude or unfriendly: > **[Definition of CRUSTY](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crusty)** > > having or being a crust; giving an effect of surly incivility in address or disposition… See the full definition I can see where having a crust would be roughly equivalent to being hard-boiled, in the sense of uncouth or not genteel. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/3 "2016-08-28T12:51:15Z")
I always took the old idiom to mean “nerve” as in “He’s got a lot of crust acting like that.” ---
**Author:** ![pianodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e79b87/32.png) [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/4 "2016-08-28T13:09:28Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I always took the old idiom to mean “nerve” as in “He’s got a lot of crust acting like that.” That’s another idea, but what about “your”? “You’ve got your crust” seems to mean crust is a physical thing. If it was “You’ve got a crust” it might imply something more akin to “you’ve got a lot of balls.” “Or you’ve got an STD.” I don’t know. Either way, definitely a reach. I am pretty positive none of the Rizzos I ever accompanied knew what the hell they were singing. Dave ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/5 "2016-08-28T13:17:57Z")
Yeah I think that’s it. “As for you, Troy Donahue, I know what you wanna do [but] you’ve got your nerve. I’m no object of lust, I’m just plain Sandra Dee.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/6 "2016-08-28T13:47:52Z")
Well, yeah, telling someone they have a lot of nerve generally implies they are rude, uncouth, and not genteel. I seem to remember my older brother using “crust” in this pejorative sense 50+ years ago, but don’t think I’ve ever heard it since. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/7 "2016-08-28T13:54:25Z")
I recall hearing the word “crust” used interchangeably with “nerve” back in the 60’s. I believe I saw it used in Superman comic books from the 1950’s, too. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/8 "2016-08-28T15:43:17Z")
I have no idea where this comes from or why I think it, but I’ve always interpreted it to mean “you’re a wealthy person” or someone who’s entitled to get whatever they want, and she’s saying “… but you can’t have me”. Again, absolutely no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/9 "2016-08-28T18:29:42Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > I have no idea where this comes from or why I think it, but I’ve always interpreted it to mean “you’re a wealthy person” or someone who’s entitled to get whatever they want, and she’s saying “… but you can’t have me”. Again, absolutely no idea why. Probably because “upper crust” is a term used to mean “upper class”. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/10 "2016-08-28T19:05:07Z")
Thanks Qadgop! Good to know I didn’t pull that _completely_ out of my rear end. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/11 "2016-08-28T19:35:16Z")
[noun: Bold audacity; gall; chutzpa: You’ve got a hell of a crust assuming I’ll go down there (1890s+)](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/crust?s=t) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-lyrics-question-about-grease/764263/12 "2016-08-28T20:04:01Z")
In Robert Heinlein’s juvenile novel, **The Star Beast** , one character tells another, “You’ve got the crust of a bakery pie.” He’s using this word to mean “nerve”. This book was published in 1954.