Stiff upper lip
One who has a stiff upper lip displays fortitude in the face of adversity, or exercises great self-restraint in the expression of emotion.[1] The phrase is most commonly heard as part of the idiom "keep a stiff upper lip", and has traditionally been used to describe an attribute of British people (particularly upper-middle and upper class), who are sometimes perceived by other cultures as being unemotional.[1] A sign of weakness is trembling of the upper lip, hence the saying keep a stiff upper lip. When a person's upper lip begins to tremble, it is one of the first signs that the person is scared or experiencing deep emotion.[2] Poems that feature a memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism and a stiff upper lip include Rudyard Kipling's "If—" and W. E. Henley's "Invictus".[3] The phrase became symbolic of the British people, and particularly of those who were products of the English public school system, during the Victorian era.[3] However the idiom may be of American origin; its earliest known example is in a publication called the Massachusetts Spy for 14 June 1815: "I kept a stiff upper lip, and bought [a] license to sell my goods."[4]
See also [edit]
- Coping (psychology)
- Masochism
- Psychological resilience
- Sisu, Finnish persistence
- Social sharing of emotions
References [edit]
- ^ a b Keep a stiff upper lip Phrases.org.uk. Retrieved February 20, 2011
- ^ "Stiff upper lip". World Wide Words. 2006-08-19. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
- ^ a b Spartans and Stoics - Stiff Upper Lip - Icons of England Retrieved February 20, 2011
- ^ "Michael Quinion writes on international English from a British viewpoint". World Wide Words. 2006-08-19. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
External links [edit]
 |
Look up stiff upper lip in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- The British Stiff Upper Lip at Sterlingtimes Virtual Scrapbook of British Nostalgia
- Keep A Stiff Upper Lip poem by J.M. Cavaness
- "Decorum is dead! Long live the outburst!" Salon article on the topic
- UsingEnglish.com
- http://www.proverbium.org
