To summon courage and deal with a difficult situation; to stop being afraid or weak and act decisively.
To be brave and stop being a coward — just do the hard thing.
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To force oneself to be brave or tough enough to deal with a difficult or frightening situation.
"You've been nervous about this presentation for weeks — just nut up and go do it."
"Nut up or shut up."
— Zombieland (film, 2009) — recurring line spoken by Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson)
To commit fully to something demanding rather than backing down.
"If you want to be a professional athlete, you need to nut up and train twice as hard."
Vulgar allusion to male anatomy used metaphorically to mean 'show courage'.
To be brave and stop being a coward — just do the hard thing.
Crude, masculine-coded American slang. Often used as a blunt command or self-encouragement. Associated with the phrase 'nut up or shut up'. Not appropriate in formal contexts.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Listen to native speakers using "nut up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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