phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Guts

Posted by ESC on September 26, 2005

In Reply to: Grace under pressure posted by Bruce Kahl on September 26, 2005

: : : : I am having problems understanding the meaning of "grace under pressure". I should translate it for a tv soap subtitle.

: : : : The context is someone is preparing for a driving licence theory test and there are two other people present. The man, who will be tested says something like "You're making me all nervous" and another man comments "Great! Grace under pressure." I have never heard this expression before, and cannot find a definition with google. Only that it is on some album or dvd :-)

: : : : Would be greatful for help!

: : : It means you are not falling apart being hysterical.
: : : You are nervous but you are acting graceful in holding your composure.

: : Wasn't it Ernest Hemingway who defined "courage" as "grace under pressure"?

: Yes.
: Another I found by Mr. H:

: Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.

"Grace under pressure. when asked what he meant by 'guts' in an interview with Dorothy Parker in New Yorker 30 November 1929." From "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations," Fifth Edition, edited by Elizabeth Knowles (Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 2001).

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.