Gut feeling

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An idiomatic phrase describing an intuitive understanding or instinctive reaction without conscious reasoning; frequently employed in verse to express visceral emotional truth or subconscious knowledge beyond rational thought.

Detailed Definition
Gut feeling means an instinctive judgement or intuition felt bodily rather than reached through conscious reasoning. In poetry, it can express trust in the body’s wisdom, especially when logic, evidence, or social pressure is uncertain. The phrase is useful for poems about danger, love, suspicion, grief, prophecy, or moral decision. It makes intuition visceral: knowledge seems to rise from the stomach rather than the mind. Poets may use it to explore embodied perception and the tension between reason and instinct.
Example
Example in poetry:
A mystery ballad may begin with a gut feeling that the bridge is unsafe; In a love poem, the speaker trusts a gut feeling before any proof appears; The phrase can show instinctive knowledge; A poet might set gut feeling against the cold arithmetic of reason.
Additional Notes
Gut feeling means an instinctive judgement not yet supported by explicit reasoning. In poetry, it is valuable because it locates knowledge in the body rather than the intellect. It can appear in poems about danger, love, grief, prophecy, or moral unease. Students should compare it with heart, head, and bones as bodily centres of knowledge. The phrase suggests intuition as visceral, immediate, and difficult to argue away.
Also Known As
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