Gut Feeling: Origin and Meaning

A personal feeling based on intuition. If you “have a gut feeling”, you strongly sense something about a situation and usually trust this feeling even if you don’t have all the evidence to prove it. “A gut feeling” can also be “a gut response” or “a gut reaction”.

The “gut” is another word for the stomach. Often people describe emotions and intuitive feelings as having a strong effect on the stomach, to the extent that at times these feelings seem to come from the stomach or gut area. In fact, scientists have discovered that after the brain, the nervous system’s second biggest network of closely-interconnected neurones is located in the stomach area. The actual signals come from your brain, but the nerve cells in your gut do play a part in your emotion and intuition.

Manager: “So which of the candidates do you think would be most suitable for the job?”
Assistant manager: “Well, having met them all, I think Fred would be the best fit for the company – it’s my gut reaction.”

Love expert: “Always trust your gut feeling when you meet a potential partner for the first time – your subconscious always knows who is right or wrong for you.”

Kelly: “It’s weird, when the estate agent took me into the house I immediately knew it was where I wanted to live.”
Rebecca: “I think you need to pay attention to your gut response – make an offer on the house before someone else buys it!”