What it means
Means quit moaning and just deal with it, even if it’s grim, painful, or unfair. It’s the verbal equivalent of a hard stare and a shove forward: stop whining, crack on, get it done. Said by parents, mates, coaches, anyone with no patience for drama. Sometimes dressed up as suck it up, buttercup for extra tough love.
Usage examples
"My trainers are chewing my heels and the rain’s horizontal. Dad goes, suck it up, buttercup, we’re two minutes from the chippy and I’m starving."
"You signed up for the marathon yourself, so when your legs are screaming at mile twenty you just suck it up and keep moving."
"I know your shift got dumped on you last minute, but suck it up for tonight and kick off tomorrow if you're still raging."
"He kept whining about having to walk ten minutes in the cold, and his sister just went, suck it up, mate, you're not crossing Antarctica."
"I know the printer's died, the client's emailing in all caps, and your coffee tastes like boiled sadness, but suck it up and send the deck."
Where it comes from
This comes from American English and was already knocking about in military and sports talk by the mid 20th century. The image is pretty blunt: swallow the pain, the complaint, the self-pity, then keep moving. Later on it spread into everyday speech, with suck it up, buttercup adding a jokey rhyme on top.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
Everyday Injustice Thief Official watcher of this expression
Tell me, what have you got for me?