stick up one's ass

alternative stick in one’s ass

1. CanadaUSderogatoryfigurativelyvulgarA stiff, stern, uptight, or humorless manner.

   have a stick up one's ass

   3 more examples

   My parents […] had been decently off at some time in the past, but all that remained by the time I came along was a certain New Englandy Puritan sense of respectability. […] I've inherited it. As much as I've tried to fight it, when you're born with a stick up your ass, you die with a stick up your ass.

   2009, Don Nigro, Gorgons and Other Plays, →ISBN, page 47

   President Adrian Kantor, whom […] Sandy often referred to as a "prissy do-gooder with a stick up his ass," credited Sanderson & Dunn with his swift ascent from the House to the Senate to the White House.

   2014, Jay Giles, chapter 1, in Moneymoon's End, →ISBN

   He was too straight-laced to appreciate piercings and tattoos. If he could manage to keep future comments to himself, she wouldn't have any reason to mention the stick up his ass.

   2015, Tara Mills, chapter 2, in Going Solo, →ISBN

   Synonyms: pickle up one's ass, pole up one's ass, stick up one's butt