What does "gross national debt" mean? What does that mean "gross," like it's really nasty or something?

Answer by  AMSR (14)

The phrase gross national debt refers to the total amount of the national debt. 'Gross' can mean either 'disgusting' or 'total'. In this case it means the latter. So "gross national debt" means the total amount of debt for some particular nation.

Answer by  Lordschild (1398)

This means the total of the national debt. As an example your gross income is the total of all the money you've earned where your net income is what you get after your taxes are withheld. In the case of our current national debt gross is nasty.