When the going gets tough, the tough get going

Last updated

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going" is a popular witticism in American English.

The phrase is an example of antimetabole.

The origin of the phrase has been attributed to various sources. It appears to come from American football parlance, with the earliest published sources in the 1950s, including an article in the Corpus Christi Times quoting local football coach John Thomas in 1953, and from a 1954 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel-News quoting coach Francis William Leahy. [1] [ non-tertiary source needed ]

In the early 21st century, the phrase is used as a management motivational talk and is popular in many self-help books. [2]

Related Research Articles

A quotation is the repetition of a sentence, phrase, or passage from speech or text that someone has said or written. In oral speech, it is the representation of an utterance that is introduced by a quotative marker, such as a verb of saying. For example: John said: "I saw Mary today". Quotations in oral speech are also signaled by special prosody in addition to quotative markers. In written text, quotations are signaled by quotation marks. Quotations are also used to present well-known statement parts that are explicitly attributed by citation to their original source; such statements are marked with quotation marks.

A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, from the Los Angeles commuter communities of the San Fernando Valley. The term in later years became more broadly applied to any female in the United States who embodied ditziness, airheadedness, or greater interest in conspicuous consumption than intellectual or personal accomplishment.

The whole nine yards Colloquial American English phrase

"The whole nine yards" or "the full nine yards" is a colloquial American English phrase meaning "everything, the whole lot" or, when used as an adjective, "all the way", as in, "The Army came out and gave us the whole nine yards on how they use space systems." Its origin is unknown and has been described by Yale University librarian Fred R. Shapiro as "the most prominent etymological riddle of our time".

Kangaroo court Court with little or no judicial credibility

A kangaroo court is a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened ad hoc. A kangaroo court may ignore due process and come to a predetermined conclusion. The term may also apply to a court held by a legitimate judicial authority which intentionally disregards the court's legal or ethical obligations.

A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass media. Some become the de facto or literal "trademark" or "signature" of the person or character with whom they originated, and can be instrumental in the typecasting of a particular actor.

Pop Goes the Weasel Folk song

"Pop! Goes the Weasel" is an English nursery rhyme and singing game. It is often used in Jack-in-the-box toys.

Primum non nocere is a Latin phrase that means "first, do no harm". The phrase is sometimes recorded as primum nil nocere.

Frank Leahy American college football coach (1907–1973)

Francis William Leahy was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at the University of Notre Dame from 1941 to 1943 and again from 1946 to 1953, compiling a career college football record of 107–13–9. His winning percentage of .864 is the second best in NCAA Division I football history, trailing only that of fellow Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach, Knute Rockne, for whom Leahy played from 1928 to 1930. Leahy played on two Notre Dame teams that won national championships, in 1929 and 1930, and coached four more, in 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949. Leahy was also the athletic director at Notre Dame from 1947 until 1949 when he passed the role to the Fighting Irish basketball coach Moose Krause so that he could focus on football coaching. Leahy served as the general manager for the Los Angeles Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) during their inaugural season in 1960. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1970.

<i>Soccer AM</i> Saturday morning football-themed comedy/talk show, broadcast on Sky Sports

Soccer AM is a British football-based comedy/talk show, produced by Sky Sports.

Ralph Lawler American sports commentator

Ralph Anthony Lawler is an American former television and radio personality. He is best known for his 41-year tenure as the voice of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers. Going back to the franchise's six-year stint in San Diego (1978–84), Lawler has broadcast virtually every Clippers game since the franchise moved from Buffalo, New York in 1978, whether it be radio and/or television. There were only two seasons when Lawler did not serve as the team's primary play-by-play broadcaster: 1981–82 and 1984–85 ; Lawler returned as the full-time voice in 1985–86. In 2019, Lawler was recognized for his contributions to the game and received the Curt Gowdy Media Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

"Winning isn’t everything; it's the only thing" is a well-known quotation in sports. It is attributed to UCLA Bruins football coach Henry Russell ("Red") Sanders. He is on record with at least two different versions of the quotation during his coaching career. Sanders is reputed to have used this quote even as far back as the 1930s.

Rick Neuheisel American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney

Richard Gerald Neuheisel Jr. is an American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1995 to 1999, at the University of Washington from 1999 to 2002, and at his alma mater, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), from 2008 to 2011, compiling a career college football coaching record of 87–59. From 2005 to 2007, Neuheisel was an assistant coach with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL), as quarterbacks coach for two seasons and offensive coordinator for one. He formerly served as head coach for the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) before the collapse of the league. Before coaching, Neuheisel played quarterback for the UCLA Bruins from 1980 to 1983, then spent two seasons with the San Antonio Gunslingers of the United States Football League (USFL) before splitting the 1987 NFL season between the San Diego Chargers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Kenneth John O'Brien Jr. is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. When he retired he was the only Jets quarterback to have ever been the top ranked passer in a season. He held the team record for most consecutive pass completions (17) in a game. O'Brien was one of the six quarterbacks in the famed Quarterback class of 1983 and in 1997 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Gorden Tallis Australia international rugby league footballer

Gorden James Tallis, also known by the nickname of "Raging Bull" for his on-field aggression, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative second-row forward, he captained both these teams as well as the Brisbane Broncos with whom he won the 1997, 1998 and 2000 Grand Finals, after starting his career with the St. George Dragons in Sydney. At the peak of his career Tallis was considered as the best second-row forward in the world and in 2008 was named in an Indigenous Australian rugby league team of the century. He is currently a commentator and pundit for the Fox Sports network. He served as a National Rugby League board member and was a member of the board of directors for the North Queensland Cowboys. Tallis also worked on the coaching staff of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Chinamans chance

Chinaman's chance is an offensive American idiom meaning little or no chance at all. Although the origin of the term is unclear, it may refer to historical misfortunes suffered by Chinese-American immigrants.

Jazz (word) Word (as opposed to musical form)

The origin of the word jazz is one of the most sought-after word origins in modern American English. Interest in the word – the American Dialect Society named it the Word of the Twentieth Century in 2000 – has resulted in considerable research and the linguistic history is well documented. "Jazz" began as a West-Coast slang term around 1912. The meaning varied, but the word did not initially refer to music. "Jazz" came to mean "jazz music" in Chicago around 1915.

Go West, young man American phrase

"Go West, young man" is a phrase, the origin of which is often credited to the American author and newspaper editor Horace Greeley concerning America's expansion westward, related to the concept of Manifest destiny. No one has yet proven who first used this phrase in print.

Washington [D.C.] is not a place to live in. The rents are high, the food is bad, the dust is disgusting and the morals are deplorable. Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.

<i>Second Effort</i> 1968 American film

Second Effort is a 1968 sales training film starring Vince Lombardi, the Hall of Fame head coach of the Green Bay Packers. The film also featured veteran character actor Ron Masak and other members of the Green Bay Packers organization, including offensive lineman Jerry Kramer. It has been cited as a "classic" and as the best-selling training film of all time. The film is still in use in leadership and management courses.

The phrase ‘to go up Salt River’ or ‘to be rowed up Salt River’ is a colloquial political slogan or catchphrase originating from the Antebellum South era of the United States, with its earliest references from 1827 onwards. It was often used in political cartoons and speeches as a metaphor to symbolise political defeat, or even specifically synonymous to ‘losing an election.’ It was later popularised in political expression by Ohio Representative Alexander Duncan when using it in a speech in the House of Representatives in 1839.

"When the looting starts, the shooting starts" is a phrase originally used by Walter E. Headley, the police chief of Miami, Florida, in response to an outbreak of violent crime during the 1967 Christmas holiday season. He accused "young hoodlums, from 15 to 21", of taking "advantage of the civil rights campaign" that was then sweeping the United States. Having ordered his officers to combat the violence with shotguns, he told the press that "we don't mind being accused of police brutality". The quote may have been borrowed from a 1963 quote from Birmingham, Alabama police chief Bull Connor. The quote was featured in Headley's 1968 obituary published by the Miami Herald.

References

  1. Tréguer, Pascal (2019-01-02). "origin of 'when the going gets tough, the tough get(s) going'". word histories. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  2. The Idioms - When the going gets tough, the tough get going.