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: Automotive Category: Automobile
ICar
A concept car that was reportedly conceived by Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs which would revolutionise the automotive industry. Powered by Apple's ...
Contributor
Featured blossaries
Browers Terms By Category
- Fuel cell(402)
- Capacitors(290)
- Motors(278)
- Generators(192)
- Circuit breakers(147)
- Power supplies(77)
Electrical equipment(1403) Terms
- Clock(712)
- Calendar(26)
Chronometry(738) Terms
- Bridge(5007)
- Plumbing(1082)
- Carpentry(559)
- Architecture(556)
- Flooring(503)
- Home remodeling(421)
Construction(10757) Terms
- Natural gas(4949)
- Coal(2541)
- Petrol(2335)
- Energy efficiency(1411)
- Nuclear energy(565)
- Energy trade(526)
Energy(14403) Terms
- Cardboard boxes(1)
- Wrapping paper(1)