Gutted
Things change quickly in Korea. Businesses are constantly changing, especially cafes and convenience stores. I remember one day when I lived in Pyeongtaek. I passed by two convince stores on my walk to work. One of them was on my block. When I went to work, it was one convenience store chain and when I walked home, it was another chain. All of the signage had changed. The stores were open in the morning and opened as a different business by night!
I went for a little walk tonight and noticed that a bedding (pillows, blankets, etc) store was completely gutted. I guess I have not been there for a little while because everything was gone, there was nothing left in the shop. Even the windows, doors and ceiling had been taken out.
Literal Meaning
Today, we are going to look at the word gutted. It comes from evisceration. That means taking the guts (organs – heart, lungs, intestine) out of an organism. This is the literal meaning of gutted, but it also has a couple figurative meanings.
Example: I gutted the fish before cooking it.
Empty Buildings
As you may have noticed from my story, gutted can also be applied to buildings. Instead of taking out the internal organs, you are taking out all of the furniture in the building. There is nothing left on the inside.
Example: The store was completely gutted by the fire.
Feeling
Gutted can also be a feeling. It means that you feel so bad, it feels like your organs have been ripped out. In particular, your heart has been ripped out. Someone who is gutted might not even have feeling anymore because they have been torn out.
Example: We lost the championship on the last play of the game. We feel absolutely gutted!
Gutted as a metaphoric feeling might have British origins. I actually didn’t know it was a Britishism, but that seems to be the consensus. I am curious if people from other countries have also heard gutted used this way. It has been used in this way since around 1984. The original meaning entered English around the 14th century.
See Also: I feel you, Keep your chin up, Falling apart at the seams, I can't stomach it.
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Reference:
https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2009/02/gutted.html
https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/2016/11/09/gutted/
https://www.etymonline.com/word/gut
https://theslangpodcast.com/gutted-what-does-gutted-mean-in-british-slang/