A person who is said to have a stiff upper lip displays fortitude and stoicism 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 in remaining resolute and unemotional when faced with adversity. , hence the saying keep a "stiff" upper lip. Examples The following have often been cited as exemplifying the "stiff upper lip". Sir Francis Drake finishing a game of bowls before embarking on the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. During the Battle of Waterloo, the Earl of Uxbridge's calm assessment of his injuries (he had lost his leg) to the Duke of Wellington after being hit by a cannonball. Rudyard Kipling's poem If—, first published in 1910. In 1852, during the sinking of the HMS Birkenhead soldiers famously stood in ranks on board, allowing the women and children to board the boats safely and escape the sinking. In 1912, during the Terra Nova Expedition, Captain Lawrence Oates, aware that his own ill health was compromising his three companions' chances of survival, calmly leaving the tent and choosing certain death saying, "I am just going outside and may be some time." In 1912, Captain Edward Smith directing the evacuation of the RMS Titanic before going down with the ship. Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter, who would wear a bowler hat and carry an umbrella into battle in the Second World War, most famously at the battle for Arnhem Bridge. In 1982, Captain Moody aboard British Airways Flight 9 from London to Auckland, on realising that all engines of the aircraft have stopped because of volcanic ash, announced to the passengers, "We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress." In 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 suffered a catastrophic engine failure that rendered all hydraulics inoperable, resulting in the aircraft being virtually uncontrollable, with the exception of the engine throttles. Captain Al Haynes kept a healthy sense of self-deprecating humour throughout the ordeal, which could clearly be heard on the cockpit voice recorder. The crew, along with passengers who were off-duty pilots and flight engineers, managed to crash land the aircraft at Sioux Gateway Airport.