backbone vs guts

backbone

noun
  • Courage, fortitude, or strength. 

  • The series of vertebrae, separated by disks, that encloses and protects the spinal cord, and runs down the middle of the back in vertebrate animals. 

  • Any fundamental support, structure, or infrastructure. 

guts

noun
  • Courage; determination. 

  • The center of the field. 

  • Content, substance. 

  • One's innermost feelings. 

  • The entrails or contents of the abdomen. 

  • The essential, core parts. 

  • The ring in the gambling game two-up in which the spinner operates; the centre. 

verb
  • To show determination or courage (especially in the combination guts out). 

  • To eat greedily. 

How often have the words backbone and guts occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )