Gutted, gutted, gutted

Posted by Word Camel on January 02, 2004

In Reply to: Gutted, gutted, gutted posted by ESC on January 02, 2004

: : From a Guardian article about the cancellation of Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations due to weather: "...Unfortunately, we had to take the decision to cancel the whole street party. Everything has been done with safety in mind. But the whole scene is just very, very sad. We are just gutted, gutted, gutted."

: : I can tell that the speaker feels horribly disappointed, but when did "gutted" become the adjective of choice? And from what usage? -- chicken processing?

: I just noticed one of the characters from the British import, "The Office," uses the term "gutting." Probably it comes from gutting of an animal. But maybe it stems from this term (Merriam-Webster):

: Main Entry: gut-wrench·ing
: Pronunciation: 'g&t-"ren-chi[ng]
: Function: adjective
: Date: 1974
: : causing mental or emotional anguish

It might actually refer to disembowelment, which was a form of public execution in Britain at one point (not recently).