intestinal fortitude

American  

noun

1. courage; resoluteness; endurance; guts.

   to have intestinal fortitude.

---

Etymology

Origin of intestinal fortitude

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

“The message to other colleges is to have the intestinal fortitude to be the adult in the room,” Mr. Plakas said in an interview after the jury had awarded damages in June 2019.

From New York Times • Sep. 8, 2022

Broadcasters John McEnroe and Piers Morgan raised the question of her intestinal fortitude.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2021

The event became an easy punchline, and, as the Washington Post reported at the time, a test of "viewers' intestinal fortitude."

From Salon • Jul. 10, 2021

Whoever has the intestinal fortitude or the megalomaniac instincts sufficient to lead any kind of a revolution will inevitably disappoint horribly.

From The Guardian • Jul. 18, 2018

These persons who promulgate and enforce such policies either have not the understanding of the problem or they do not have the intestinal fortitude to do what they think if they do understand it.

From Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 by MacGregor, Morris J.