stand the gaff

stand the gaff

To face and withstand intense censure or criticism. I made the decision to go ahead with my plan and stand the gaff later, if it came to it. You must be willing to stand the gaff if your hope to make any worthwhile progress in this business.
See also: gaff, stand

stand the gaff

Take severe criticism or other adversity in stride, as in If you can't stand the gaff, don't try running for office. [Slang; late 1800s]
See also: gaff, stand
References in periodicals archive ?
All successful leaders and business men have the enduring capacity to stand the gaff.
A quality common to all good salesmen
Then spoke their chief official (who would grace our service here) As he mocked the suffering children with a laugh; "From these angry, cursing miners we have nothing now to fear, For I'm positive they cannot stand the gaff.
Prompted by the phrase "they can't stand the gaff," the poem castigates the company for its treatment of its workers.
Wallace The Workers Child Thomas Campbell Bread and Roses Joseph Oppenheim The Battle of Glace Bay Lloyd Roberts Can You Stand the Gaff Patrick Owney They Can't Stand the Gaff "E.
Protest song and verse in Cape Breton Island
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