History Main / StiffUpperLip

* Lampshaded by [[Creator/DaraOBriain Dara O'Briain]] on {{Series/Mock The Week}} during the 2008 banking crisis and Northern Rock closing, noting that in other countries the customers would be smashing up the bank to get their money back whereas the British just queued up outside for hours.

* Noted by comedian Dara Ó Briain. On the 6th of July, we learnt we were getting TheOlympics in 2012 and the next day was the bombing -- apparently everybody in London reacted the same to both pieces of news: "Oh... but how am I going to get home?"

** In his first action in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne WWI]], aged 16, he found himself frozen with fear under heavy machine-gun fire. Not knowing what else to do, he stood up, saluted, and sang the national anthem.
** In a later action, he was helping guide a horse pulling a gun when he suffered a near-direct hit from a German shell that destroyed his knee, blew off several of his fingers, and blinded him in one eye. His first words on waking in a military hospital? "Is the horse alright?" (It wasn't).
** He received the Military Cross for almost-singlehandedly capturing a village from the Germans and holding it for several hours until relieved. He later claimed to have no recollection of the action but admitted: "It does sound the sort of thing I'd do". While in the hospital he saw a young trooper of his regiment dying of Scarlet Fever. He pushed past the doctors to bellow at the unconscious man "Now look here. It's against Kings Regulations for a Dragoon to die in bed. Now I order you to stop dying '''AT ONCE!''' And when you do get up, get your bloody hair cut!". The man went on to make a full recovery and indeed outlived Wintle.
** In [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo WWII]] he was arrested for attempting to steal a plane (in order to meet the leader of the French Air Force to arrange their defection to Britain in the event of a surrender, and having been refused the official loan of one despite threatening the Squadron Commander--and ''himself'' with his service revolver). The poor NCO assigned to escort him to prison (in the Tower of London no less) somehow managed to lose the arrest warrant. Ordering the NCO to wait for him at the station, Wintle returned to HQ to acquire a new warrant. Finding no more senior officer than himself there, ''he signed his own arrest warrant''.

** In civilian life, as well as always carrying a furled umbrella with a note inside saying "This umbrella stolen from AD Wintle" because while he believed no gentleman would ever leave home without an umbrella, no gentleman would ever actually unfurl one either. He also became the only person ever to successfully represent himself in a case before the Law Lords. The case in question, which involved a crooked solicitor, an inheritance, [[NoodleIncident and for which he had spent six months in Prison for ambushing said solicitor and forcing him to remove his trousers, which Wintle flew from his private flagpole]] is actually now enshrined in precedent in England, to the effect that a solicitor may not be a beneficiary of a will he helped to draw up.

* During The Blitz, numerous children were evacuated from cities to the countryside, or to Canada. When it was suggested to Queen Elizabeth that her daughters, Princesses [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth]] and Margaret be evacuated from London, she responded

* This trope forms the central conflict of ''Film/TheQueen'', featuring [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II]]. After the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the press stirs up a furor because the Queen is insistent upon mourning in a dignified and private manner as opposed to publicly displaying the grief. The resolution of the film is all about finding an appropriate balance between the two and, on a larger scale, about the modernization of the monarchy.

* In ''Film/TheKingsSpeech'', this was expected of royalty, so when Edward broke down upon his father's death and was told that he would become king, everyone treated it very seriously and it was a sign that he wasn't fit to rule.

* Shaun's mother in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' gets bitten by a zombie but doesn't mention it because she doesn't want to be any trouble. It's a total TearJerker.

* The RP-accented General Doyle from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' tries to keep calm in the face of adversity by the New Republic rebellion, against his forces with the Federation of Chorus, and later [[spoiler:while working together with the former rebels, against Charon Industries' attempt to lay waste to their world]], but tends to have a difficult time of it. He has no military history, having been [[YouAreInCommandNow thrust into the position]] [[TheChainsOfCommanding after the death of the Federation's previous general]], and, by his own admission, considers himself a coward. [[spoiler:He does make efforts to redeem himself, however, and was ultimately calm in his self-sacrifice to eliminate many of Charon's troops in the end.]]

** Averted during the funeral ceremonies, with King Charles III on the verge of tears at several points in the ceremony, especially when ''God Save The King'' was played. Also averted with Elizabeth's great grand-daughter Princess Charlotte, who was able to maintain composure during the funeral but after the service was seen in tears over her grandmother's passing.

Compare GentlemanSnarker, TryingNotToCry, ThisIsNoTimeToPanic, QuintessentialBritishGentleman, TheJeeves and the Japanese cultural concept of "ItCantBeHelped". This is what someone who has or pretends to have NervesOfSteel would supposedly look like from the outside. Often crosses over with BritsLoveTea, as stopping everything to make a cup of tea and consider the situation when faced by danger is both [[RuleOfFunny Funny]], [[RuleOfCool Badass]], and, as seen below [[TruthInTelevision happens surprisingly often in real life.]] Not to be confused with WhileRomeBurns, when the response is denial instead of steely resolve.

* In Creator/WhiteWolf's ''TabletopGame/{{Adventure}}!'' (a homage to the Pulp genre) the BadassNormal class can take a feat called Perfect Poise, which is this trope [[UpToEleven and so much more]]. Not only are you unfazeable in combat, but you can also walk through a swamp without getting your clothes dirty and sip your martini during an earthquake and not spill a drop. You're just that refined.

* In an episode of the BritCom ''Series/MyHero'', the world was ending and all the patients at the Northolt Health Centre acted like it was just another day, causing Mrs. Raven to comment "peculiar race, the British".

* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', we have the [[GasMaskMooks Death Korps of Krieg]], who have an absolute disregard for their own lives and are born and raised for the sole purpose of repenting for the sins of their ancestors, who engaged in a terrible rebellion thousands of years ago. They march into battle proudly, fighting the most terrible foes without flinching or having the slightest sense of fear. However, it's not like you're going to see their faces; they all wear gas masks, their appearance being a homage to the soldiers of World War I.

* ''Film/BarryLyndon'': The film revolves around the fact that everyone in 19th Century Britian must maintain one regardless of pathos, and Barry Lyndon having very human reactions to tragedies in his life being the major societal sin.

** The British version of "hysterical", in this case, consisting mainly of account holders forming orderly queues outside their local branches and calmly waiting their turn to withdraw their savings. [[BritsOfTea Probably with a flask of tea to drink while they were waiting]].

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', which re-told the story of Joan of Arc, had her British enemies sitting on their side of the battlefield, [[BritsOfTea sipping tea]].

Bullets are whistling, shells are exploding, panicked soldiers dash here and there splattered with mud and blood, the air is thick with shouted commands and the rich stench of death! And yet our hero is [[DistinguishedGentlemansPipe smoking a pipe]], sipping [[SpotOfTea his tea]], and doing the ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers Times]]'' CrosswordPuzzle, for he is an Imperturbable Englishman.

Compare GentlemanSnarker, TryingNotToCry, ThisIsNoTimeToPanic, QuintessentialBritishGentleman, TheJeeves and the Japanese cultural concept of "ItCantBeHelped". This is what someone who has or pretends to have NervesOfSteel would supposedly look like from the outside. Often crosses over with ASpotOfTea, as stopping everything to make a cup of tea and consider the situation when faced by danger is both [[RuleOfFunny Funny]], [[RuleOfCool Badass]], and, as seen below [[TruthInTelevision happens surprisingly often in real life.]] Not to be confused with WhileRomeBurns, when the response is denial instead of steely resolve.

* In ''ComicBook/ItCame'', an alien robot named Grurk invades England to harvest the very Britishness of its inhabitants, made clear when Grurk takes the stiffness out of his victims' upper lips aboard its spaceship. Its weakness also turns out to be a SpotOfTea.

** The British version of "hysterical", in this case, consisting mainly of account holders forming orderly queues outside their local branches and calmly waiting their turn to withdraw their savings. [[SpotOfTea Probably with a flask of tea to drink while they were waiting]].

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', which re-told the story of Joan of Arc, had her British enemies sitting on their side of the battlefield, [[SpotOfTea sipping tea]].

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}}'', we have the [[GasMaskMooks Death Korps of Krieg]], who have an absolute disregard for their own lives and are born and raised for the sole purpose of repenting for the sins of their ancestors, who engaged in a terrible rebellion thousands of years ago. They march into battle proudly, fighting the most terrible foes without flinching or having the slightest sense of fear. However, it's not like you're going to see their faces; they all wear gas masks, their appearance being a homage to the soldiers of World War I.

* Interesting TruthInTelevision example: Harold Macmillan, later British Prime Minister, was reading Ancient Greek poetry while lying wounded in no-man's land for a whole day until he was rescued during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* Interesting TruthInTelevision example: Harold Macmillan, later British Prime Minister, was reading Ancient Greek poetry while lying wounded in no-man's land for a whole day until he was rescued during UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne.
* UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington, by all accounts. [[Magazine/PrivateEye Ian]] [[Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou Hislop]] has presented a documentary on the concept of the StiffUpperLip, and credits him as being something of a TropeMaker, as it wasn't really recognized as a national trait pre-Napoleonic Wars and he became such a national hero after them.
** A madman escaped from an asylum and broke into the Duke of Wellington's office. He (the madman) announced that he had to kill the Duke. "Does it have to be right now?" Wellington asked. The madman hesitated, and Wellington told him to come back later.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Smith_(sea_captain) Captain Edward John Smith]] of the ''RMS Titanic''. Famous mostly for his (now considered apocryphal) line "[[StiffUpperLip Be British]]" and for going down with his ship.

* This was literally military doctrine for British officers: The earliest written reference of it is in the 1727 book "A Treatise of Military Discipline: In Which is laid down and Explained the Duties of Officer and Soldier", which states officers should carry themselves in a serene and affable manner to help embolden their troops. Many real examples displayed this by [[NervesOfSteel walking calmly and never ducking]] in the face of bullets, and [[DangerDeadpan being unerringly polite whenever they spoke]] ([[CasualDangerDialog possibly of chatting about the weather]]). While this concept was generally used among other Western armies of the time, true to the trope, none carried it out to the extent of the British. There was some advancement to this along with the rest of warfare's increasing lethality (for example, the officers of skirmishers in the 18th century were allowed to kneel while their troops lied prone, and in World War I, could take cover from artillery bombardment while in a trench), but the core concept remained - act like an AnOfficerAndAGentleman at all times.

* A firebomb went off in a cinema in Liverpool during WWII. Naturally, everyone assumed it was the Germans, and ran to the door. One man stood up and said, "Don't worry, it's only the Irish," who were fighting for independence. Everyone waited for the bomb to fizzle out, and continued watching the film.

* Virtually ''everyone'' in ''Battle of the River Plate''. Royal Navy sangfroid at its very finest.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''invoked twice; once when Bilbo, to hide his emotion that Frodo is going off on a dangerous quest, bracingly slaps Frodo on the back; another when Sam almost drowns following Frodo, and Frodo, on rescuing him, covers up his feelings by remarking "Sam! You are a confounded nuisance." Both scenes in the movie , by contrast, result in hugs and tears. [[/folder]]

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* The entire life of Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Daniel Wintle embodied this trope (along with a good portion of CrazyAwesome).

-->--'''Music/PinkFloyd''', "[[Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon Time]]"

* There is a voice scheme that you can select for your team called literally this verbatim in Worms Armageddon/Worms World Party. It's really funny too.