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.
0
0
Improve it
- 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
Industry/Domain: Language Category: Encyclopedias
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
Browers Terms By Category
- Marketing communications(549)
- Online advertising(216)
- Billboard advertising(152)
- Television advertising(72)
- Radio advertising(57)
- New media advertising(40)
Advertising(1107) Terms
- General jewelry(850)
- Style, cut & fit(291)
- Brands & labels(85)
- General fashion(45)
Fashion(1271) Terms
- Contracts(640)
- Home improvement(270)
- Mortgage(171)
- Residential(37)
- Corporate(35)
- Commercial(31)
Real estate(1184) Terms
- Authors(2488)
- Sportspeople(853)
- Politicians(816)
- Comedians(274)
- Personalities(267)
- Popes(204)
People(6223) Terms
- Journalism(537)
- Newspaper(79)
- Investigative journalism(44)