Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Stiff upper lip
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. 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. 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.
- Part of Speech: noun
- Synonym(s):
- Blossary: American Idiom
- Industry/Domain: Language
- Category: Idioms
- Company:
- Product:
- Acronym-Abbreviation:
Other Languages:
Member comments
Terms in the News
Featured Terms
Atlantis
An island alleged by tradition to have existed in the ocean W. of the Pillars of Hercules; Plato has given a beautiful picture of this island, and an ...
Contributor
Featured blossaries
stanley soerianto
0
Terms
107
Blossaries
6
Followers
Portugal National Football Team 2014
Browers Terms By Category
- Conferences(3667)
- Event planning(177)
- Exhibition(1)
Convention(3845) Terms
- Health insurance(1657)
- Medicare & Medicaid(969)
- Life insurance(359)
- General insurance(50)
- Commercial insurance(4)
- Travel insurance(1)
Insurance(3040) Terms
- Investment banking(1768)
- Personal banking(1136)
- General banking(390)
- Mergers & acquisitions(316)
- Mortgage(171)
- Initial public offering(137)
Banking(4013) Terms
- Lingerie(48)
- Underwear(32)
- Skirts & dresses(30)
- Coats & jackets(25)
- Trousers & shorts(22)
- Shirts(17)
Apparel(222) Terms
- Osteopathy(423)
- Acupuncture(18)
- Alternative psychotherapy(17)
- Ayurveda(9)
- Homeopathy(7)
- Naturopathy(3)