All successful leaders and business men have the enduring capacity to
stand the gaff. Salesmen are leaders, and also they're business men running business on their own ability; and all the successful ones I ever saw had one thing in common--that enduring capacity to
stand the gaff, a steady courage.
A famous saying in Cape Breton, "They Can't Stand the Gaff," is attributed to J.E.
The composer of "They Can't Stand the Gaff" is listed as "E.E.R." to protect his or her identity.
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.E.R." The Workers Cry John C.
They can't stand the gaff." Frank calls this "one of the most memorable statements in Cape Breton labour history," and "the remark was regarded as an offensive slur." In turn, "Standing the Gaff" became "a rallying cry of the strike" (Frank 1999: 374).
