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The further away the promise, the easier it is to make.
you will find a spring and nourished by its sweet waters
Dec 4, 2018 21:19
5 yrs ago
10 viewers *
English term

gritty

English Other Tourism & Travel
an Italian city is described as anarchic and gritty.

What do you understand by gritty?

Many thanks

context
it's all about embracing chaos and magic and a healthy dose of fear.
It is a charmingly rough and tumble town
Responses
4 +9 Tough, rough, down-to-earth
4 Unpleasant
3 authentic, showing courage and determination

Discussion

JohnMcDove Dec 5, 2018:
Agree with Lara! The sentence where "gritty" appears is key!
Lara Barnett Dec 4, 2018:
@ Lakasa I think you need to post the actual sentence this word occurs in. Gritty has one basic meaning, but the way it is being used can be quite important.

Responses

+9
18 mins
Selected

Tough, rough, down-to-earth

Gritty is a term used of tough urban spaces, of plays/shows that are challenging. To me it has connotations of low-life, graffiti, and general lack of any civilised qualities; other (younger!) people see it as hip, important and modern.
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : I don't agree with your negative connotations, though. And I'm not young!
36 mins
agree Tony M : Yes, "warts-and-all realism / authenticity", etc.
40 mins
agree Mark Nathan : as opposed to polished, elegant, highly cultured etc
1 hr
agree jccantrell
1 hr
agree Anna Herbst
2 hrs
agree Shekhar Banerjee : It has more to do with grit (courage, steadfastness) than anything else.
9 hrs
agree AllegroTrans
14 hrs
agree Alison Jenner
16 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher : With Mark. But it would be good to have the full sentence.
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks for your help!"
16 mins

Unpleasant

Gritty can mean brave but in this instance, teamed with anarchic, I would think it means it is not a nice place. See the third definition in the following link:

Reference:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gritty

Peer comment(s):
neutral philgoddard : It says "charmingly".
35 mins
neutral Tony M : Not realy, in a cultural sense, it can be used in an approbatory way.
40 mins
neutral Paula Graf : It is a "charmingly rough and tumble town" so I think can't be unpleasant, whitch have a negative connotation.
2 hrs
neutral AllegroTrans : It says "charmingly" so this doesn't work
14 hrs
neutral Yvonne Gallagher : no, gritty probably means "hip" here as in down-to earth with no airs and graces but nevertheless with its own charm
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

authentic, showing courage and determination

Because of "It is a charmingly rough and tumble town" I think can't be a negative meaning as, for example, harsh and unpleasant.
Example sentence:

have a gritty determination to succeed

Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : This may be also true, but it's too much of an amplification of "gritty"
12 hrs
neutral Yvonne Gallagher : Really a disagree. You are personifying a TOWN "have a gritty determination to succeed" !! No, this doesn't work for me at all here. "Authentic" might be OK (if we could see whole context) but, as AT says, you are overtranslating as well
15 hrs
Figure of speech personification, like "The run-down house appeared depressed."
Something went wrong...
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