To put on a resolute look.
1815. I kept a stiff upper lip, and bought [a] license to sell my goods.—Mass. Spy, June 14.
1833. Keep a stiff upper lip; no bones broke.—John Neal, ‘The Down Easter,’ i. 15.
1834. Now let every man keep a stiff upper lip, go forward boldly and attack them with courage, and you ’ve nothing to fear.—Seba Smith, ‘Major Jack Downing,’ p. 16 (1860).
1838. They may “keep a stiff upper lip,” as the saying is; but the game is up.—Cong. Globe, p. 34, Appendix. [For fuller quotation see GREATEST AND BEST.]
1839. Keep a stiff upper lip, and if the bill for creating admirals should pass through Congress, I will use my influence with the Secretary to get you a midshipman’s warrant.—Charles F. Briggs, ‘Harry Franco,’ i. 269.
1842. We’ll all “bust out,” some of these days. In the meantime, as they say in domestic French, Tenez un[e] stiff levre superieure.—Phila. Spirit of the Times, July 27.
1842. The best way is to stand firm on your spindle-shanks and keep a stiff upper lip.—Id., Jan. 11.
1842.
| Keep a stiff upper lip. | |
| Let not the upper border of your mouth | |
| Be from its firmest disposition bent. | |
N.O. Picayune, May. |
1842. The Yankees are determined to keep a stiff upper lip with the Gothamites.—Phila. Spirit of the Times, Jan. 26.
1845. Keep a stiff upper lip, and you’ll bring him this time.—W. T. Thompson, ‘Chronicles of Pineville,’ p. 150 (Phila.).
1847. [He told him] to remember to put on a stiff upper lip when he went into his school.—D. P. Thompson, ‘Locke Amsden,’ p. 83 (Boston).
a. 1848. Carry a stiff upper lip, a stout heart, &c.—Dow, Jun., ‘Patent Sermons,’ i. 232.
1852. It was keepin’ a stiff upper lip that carried Gineral Jackson through a great many hard trials.—Seba Smith (‘Major Downing’), ‘My Thirty Years Out of the Senate,’ p. 401 (1860).
1853. If fortune frowns, tell her to go to grass; don’t let your energy ooze out, but keep a stiff upper lip, and go it again.—Daily Morning Herald, St. Louis, April 16.
1857. The ladies, mindful of Solomon’s recommendation, did not look downcast, but wore a quiet, determined air, as if, in the old-time phrase, each had resolved to “keep a stiff upper lip.”—D. H. Strother, ‘Virginia Illustrated,’ p. 163 (N.Y.).
