Stiff upper lip
1297132
203639054
2008-04-06T00:46:38Z
Enaidmawr
2129297
<div align="Justify">{{For|the album by AC/DC|Stiff Upper Lip}}
{{For|the song by George and Ira Gershwin from ''Damsel in Distress''|Stiff Upper Lip (Gershwin song)}}
One who has a '''stiff upper lip''' displays fortitude in the face of adversity, or exercises [[self control|self-restraint]] in the expression of [[emotion]].
The phrase is most commonly heard as part of the [[idiom]] ''keep a stiff upper lip'', and has traditionally been used to describe a supposed attribute of [[Great Britain|British]] people, who were (and sometimes still are) perceived by many as being reserved; the idiom is however of [[American English|American]] origin. Furthermore, most [[Welsh people|Welsh]] and [[Scottish people]] would see it as an essentially [[English people|English]] trait unrelated to their national characteristics. The 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." [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sti3.htm]
English author [[P. G. Wodehouse]]'s comic novel ''[[Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves]],'' 1963, (ISBN 0-7432-0360-7), parodies this trait, and the [[Eric Idle]] song, "[[Always Look on the Bright Side of Life]]," is often seen as a humorous but genuine celebration of it.
== External links ==
*[http://www.sterlingtimes.org/memorable_images61.htm The British Stiff Upper Lip] at [http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk Sterlingtimes Virtual Scrapbook of British Nostalgia]
*[http://skyways.lib.ks.us/poetry/juleps/stifflip.html Keep A Stiff Upper Lip] poem by J.M. Cavaness
*[http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/stiff+upper+lip.html UsingEnglish.com]
[[Category:English idioms]]
[[Category:English culture]]