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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Up #119189 01/08/04 10:14 PM Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 171 Hawaii, USA J JohnHawaii OP member OP JohnHawaii member J Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 171 Hawaii, USA This may have been posted here before. Not sure how old it is: About up. There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meaning than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP." It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we waken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car (or if it is a red Corvette, a special girl fixes it UP). At other times the little word has real special meaning: People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP. To be knowledgeable of the proper uses of UP, look UP the word in the dictionary. In a desk size dictionary, UP takes UP almost 1/4th the page and definitions add UP to about thirty. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so I'll shut UP Eh, what's up doc?! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119190 01/08/04 10:22 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 2,661 Chicago musick Carpal Tunnel musick Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 2,661 Chicago ...and then there is *our own special interpretation of 'up'... "Hey, sjmaxq, how's the weather way up under? Time to flip over before you burn up." Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119191 01/09/04 12:20 AM Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 2,636 Caribbean consuelo Carpal Tunnel consuelo Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 2,636 Caribbean Then, of course, there is the UP of Michigan Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119192 01/09/04 12:54 AM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 W wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 In many instances the use of 'up' indicates that an action has gone to completion, or at least approached it. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119193 01/09/04 01:08 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta B Bingley Carpal Tunnel Bingley Carpal Tunnel B Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta And your homework, class, is to write a similar piece about any of the other prepositions commonly used in phrasal verbs. Bingley Bingley Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119194 01/09/04 01:24 AM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont you so down, Bingley. formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119195 01/09/04 01:31 AM Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 4,189 Rio Grande, Cape May County, N... WhitmanO'Neill Carpal Tunnel WhitmanO'Neill Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 4,189 Rio Grande, Cape May County, N... And we used to say "fix me up" or "fix us up" when we wanted a friend or somebody to help us get to know a young lady. And, yep, *our own Upunder (ahem), comes to mind. But why has "downer" endured from the early drug culture, becoming a part of the language, and "upper" fallen by the wayside? "Up, up, and away!.." Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119196 01/09/04 02:09 AM Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 171 Hawaii, USA J JohnHawaii OP member OP JohnHawaii member J Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 171 Hawaii, USA It also seems that when "up" is used in the phrasal verb form, it is generally (but not always) superfluous to the action being taken (e.g., open/close up the store). I'm not sure what purpose "up" serves in those cases. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119197 01/09/04 02:19 AM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 W wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 Der Quibblemeister says you could close the store and yet still be in it. But when you "close up" the store, you lock it and go home. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Up #119198 01/09/04 02:20 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta B Bingley Carpal Tunnel Bingley Carpal Tunnel B Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta to disambiguate the expression open/close the store perhaps? Opening a store could refer to its first establishment rather than the diurnal round. Bingley Bingley Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. 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