stiff upper lip

Having a stiff upper lip is considered the quintessential British quality of resolution in the face of adversity. But surprisingly, the phrase itself is an American import.

The earliest use of the phrase that I’m aware of appears in a 6 November 1811 report on U.S. Congressional action, or rather inaction, in the buildup to the War of 1812:

There will be much talk and little business this session—War is out of the question, but it was resolved in caucus last Sunday evening to look big and keep a stiff upper lip.

And indeed, early uses of the phrase centered on the prospects of war between the United States and England. From the Trenton Federalist of 9 December 1811:

The committee of Congress, to whom was referred the subject of our Foreign Affairs, have brot [sic] in their report, and 6 resolutions at the end of it. Like the President in his message, this committee seem determined that there shall not be cause for charging them with a want of spirt. They come forth with a bold front and stiff upper-lip, and talk most woefully and indignantly against poor John Bull—So that now, if we have not war with old England in right good earnest, neither the President nor the committee on foreign relations, can be blamed.

And the full phrase keep a stiff upper lip makes its debut on 18 January 1812 in a restaurant advertisement for Stiff's Oyster House that not only references the possibility of war but that also makes play on words with stiff, demonstrating that the phrase had rather widespread currency:

But, what a cheerful reflection it is, that in these perilous times we have one comfort left that all the nations of the earth combined cannot deprive us of! Notwithstanding the comet, eclipses, earthquakes and tempests, Indian wars and British orders in council, we have the pleasing certainty, that go when we will to Stiff’s Oyster-house, No. 22 Fayette street, we can get as good Liquors, Oysters and Terrapins as ever gladdened the heart of man. By [t]he bye, my fellow-citizens, let us keep a STIFF upper lip, for never since mortal man wore hair upon his head was there seen better TERRAPINS than is now at No. 22 Fayette street. Those who have any doubts on the subject, are respectfully invited to call and remove them as soon as possible, and instead of riding to Canada on their backs, take my advice and put them in their bellies.

THOMAS STIFF.
New Beer and Oyster House, No. 22, Fayette street

It would take some time for the phrase to cross the Atlantic. The earliest use of the phrase in a British publication that I have found is actually by the Nova Scotian humorist Thomas Chandler Haliburton, writing under the pen name Sam Slick. It appears in Cleave’s Gazette of Variety on 16 March 1839. In the years that follow, the phrase appears rather often in British papers, but always by North American writers.

In 1851 we get this nugget, which is a rewording of a piece from an American newspaper that had been reprinted several times in British papers. But in this instance, the editors have removed the Americanisms in the piece, with the exception of keep a stiff upper lip, and changed dollars to pounds. From London’s The Lady’s Newspaper of 5 April:

L. L. L. requests the following to be inserted as a bit of advice:—“Never make a poor mouth, but if you are wise you will always affect independence. If you are poor, don’t let folks know it, or they will discover in you ten thousand blemishes—a host of defects, which would never be discovered, or at least never talked about, if you kept a stiff upper lip, and carried yourself as if you had ten thousand pounds, instead of but ten, at your command.

And a few years later, we finally get the phrase used in an entirely British context. Again it’s in reference to a war, this time to the Crimean War. From the York Herald of 21 January 1854:

The electric telegraph will shortly be adopted in our possessions in Asia, and as Lord Palmerston had said, “so universal will telegraph communication become, that if the minister be asked in the House of Commons, whether war had broken out in India, he might answer, wait a minute, I will telegraph the Governor-General in Calcutta, and let you know.” Even now, however, we were enabled, said the lecturer, to communicate hundreds of miles, and tell our friends that the same noble lord had—but not before it was wanted—put a stiff upper lip to Russia.

Sources:

“The Committee of Congress.” Trenton Federalist (New Jersey), 9 December 1811, 3/2. Readex: America’s Historical Newspapers.

“Correspondence.” The Lady’s Newspaper (London), 5 April 1851, 185. Gale Primary Sources: Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals.

“From Our Correspondent” (6 November 1811). Philadelphia Gazette (Pennsylvania), 9 November 1811, 3/3. Readex: America’s Historical Newspapers.

“Mark! Read Learn and Digest.” Baltimore Whig (Maryland), 18 January 1812, 2/2. . Readex: America’s Historical Newspapers.

Oxford English Dictionary Online, 1916, s. v. stiff, adj., n., and adv.

“The Progress of the Nation.” York Herald (England), 21 January 1854, 6/5. Gale Primary Sources: British Library Newspapers.

Slick, Sam [Thomas Chandler Haliburton]. “Too Many Irons in the Fire.” Cleave’s Gazette of Variety, 16 March 1839, 4/2. Gale Primary Sources: Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals.

Image credit: UK Government, 1939. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain image.