The tough gets going

Posted by Sunitha on October 21, 2001

Hi!,

I wanted to know what does the phrase,
"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going" means. Actually I understood the first part of it. But the second part "the tough gets going" is not clear to me. What does the word "tough" stand for, here? Does it mean "brave", "bold", "determined" or something like that?

Any answer is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
-K.Sunitha

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