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, 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 shaken by experiencing deep emotion.[2]
It's perhaps surprising "that a phrase so strongly associated with the UK should have originated in America." One of the earliest known references to the phrase was in the Massachusetts Spy, June 1815: "I kept a stiff upper lip, and bought [a] license to sell my goods." [3]
Poems that feature a memorable evocation of Victorian cold-bloodedness and a stiff upper lip include Rudyard Kipling's "If—" and W. E. Henley's "Invictus".[4] 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. Such schools aimed to instill a code of discipline and devotion to duty in their students through competitive sports, corporal punishments and cold showers.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b Keep a stiff upper lip Phrases.org.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2011
- ^ "Stiff upper lip". World Wide Words. 19 August 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ^ http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/keep-a-stiff-upper-lip.html.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ a b Spartans and Stoics - Stiff Upper Lip - Icons of England Retrieved 20 February 2011
External links
- 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