"have some backbone" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It means to have courage and determination. Example: "Sarah needs to have some backbone and stand up for herself during the meeting tomorrow."
Working in PR requires you to have some backbone.
And once your boss sees you have some backbone, he and his lap dog may ease up on you.
Here are a few products that have some backbone: THE G.P.S.: Wondering if your accounting rules are entirely on the up and up?
"We can live in fear and make bad policy based on fear," said Patricia L. Caruso, director of the Michigan Department of Corrections, "or we can have some backbone and make policy based on what really helps our communities".
Do you have some backbone to filter between cars or take some bumps along the way?
New World Cabs and Pinot Noirs can be lovely as long as they have some backbone of tannin and acidity, but this year I am especially looking forward to seeing how the succulent richness of the Hugel Gewurztraminer included in the slide show pairs with the festive bird.
At least, the argument goes, Ted Cruz has some backbone.
I told him he had to stand for something ultimately.... and show he had some backbone.
It was concentrated, showed some interesting complexity and was well structured, which means it had some backbone, which in turn means that it had some good tannins.
Responding to the New Express's earlier declaration that it had some "backbone," Wang Ran, a tech investor and popular commentator on Sina Weibo, wrote "The New Express's bones are broken".
It has some backbone amide protons whose exchange is slow enough to be measured by NMR but binds more of the dye 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate than a well-folded protein.
