"‘Steady the Buffs!’ – The equivalent of ‘Don’t break ranks’, ‘Hold your horses.’ The ‘Buffs’ were the Royal East Kent Regiment (the nickname deriving from their buff-coloured waistcoats and the facings on their tunics) and the phrase ‘Steady, the Buffs’ was first used by Lieutenant John Cotter on a training ground in Malta in 1858 when a battalion of new recruits were parading in some disarray. The phrase was echoed in mockery by another regiment and eventually entered the language, becoming synonymous with aristocratic notions such as ‘keeping a stiff upper lip’"

- Sayings my Dad taught me