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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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What does "on the up and up" mean to you? It means only one thing to me, but as my favorite contemporary linguist pointed out on Wednesday's NPR "Fresh Air" program, it has two distinct meanings, unencumbered by national, georgraphic, or other pattern explanations. He mentions some other words and expressions, too. http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/upandup.htmlAlso, I wonder which discussion board he's referring to here? "Out of curiosity, I sent a question about the item to a discussion group that's peopled by dialectologists and other devotees of word-lore."
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Joined: Mar 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
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To me, 'on the up and up' would mean legitimate, above board, not an under the counter deal, etc.
"Honest, Guv, it's on the up and up, real Kosher stuff," as we Hollywood Brits say.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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That's what it means to me, too, dixbie. But try googling it, as Nunberg suggested. What about the rest of y'all, what does the term mean to you?
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Joined: Jul 2003
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
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I'm for the honest, above-board definition.
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addict
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addict
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First vote for the 'on the rise' meaning. My experience with this is similar to the Californian wife in the report; I didn't even *know the other meaning.!! (scratching head bemusedly)somebody had better post quickly in agreement with this; am feeling mighty strange already what with being rather alone in imagining dead pirates, killed by falling coconut trees and all.
As for the others:
Heartburn - anxious/stressful
deceptively shallow - oh! *definitely to mean, that the pool is deeper than you suppose.
Nice read, AnnaS. Thanks
Edit:
One quick note on Heartburn. This one is an old friend from the days that I used to read almost everything that came out of the stable of Indian authors writing in English. I believe it was Midnight's Children that first prompted it (I could be wrong here) but heartburn is used frquently by this group to indicate jealous sentiment. I later found out that this was an almost literal translation from the Hindi/Urdu. It might have an entry in Hobson-Jobson.
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Joined: Jul 2003
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
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Well, I'm with you on "deceptively shallow", at any rate, and had at least heard the "on the rise" meaning of "up and up"
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Thank you Max! 
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
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I would read it as honest, or in some contexts as an awkward version of going up and up. I've never heard it to mean deceptively shallow or deceptively anything else either.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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On the up and up -- rising, but generally with an implication of a positive attitude to the rise. I wouldn't say "prices are on the up and up" if I was bewailing inflation, for example.
I'm not quite sure what image I get from a defensive end on the up and up.
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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never heard it to mean deceptively shallow or deceptively anything else either.
Two whole nother expressions. "On the up and up" is one issue, whether "deceptively shallow" means shallow or deep is another.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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interesting article. thanks, Anna, that's a bookmark.  "up and up" to me means legitmate, though I suppose I've heard it used for "on the rise". when heard that way, I never thought about it as a phrase, more of just repetition for emphasis. "deceptively shallow", I must admit I've never heard(or at least remembered, would mean to me to be shallower than it looks.
formerly known as etaoin...
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