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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328
enthusiast
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OP
enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 328 |
Something I've been ruminating on for the last day or so:
Why is up used in so many expressions? We say that we "straightened up" a dirty room, the car "sped up", the slowpoke "caught up" with the rest of the group...
There are some expressions in which up makes sense to me, such as "I got up this morning" or "I picked up the dirty socks that were on the floor." These actually involve an upwards motion, unlike the expressions in the last paragraph.
Any thoughts? Or other expressions which I didn't come up with?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Rapunzel: It just doesn't add up, does it?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 20
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 20 |
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
It just doesn't add up
Particularly since most of us add down.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Rapunzel, I haven't an answer for you, but I join in your wonder at the ubiquitousness of "up." I had occasion to read the dictionary entry on "up" once, and was amazed at how long it was, and how many different meanings such a little word could have.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 76
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 76 |
I remember once reading advice to beware of using "up" to fill up space or to jazz up a plain but serviceable term, as in "she headed up the group." But it's hard to break up with such a insidious habit.....
Sometimes it seems like the shorter the word, the longer the dictionary entry.
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
Well, gee, isn't it obvious that this can just be attributed to the general optomism of the human race?
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
Well, gee, isn't it obvious that this can just be attributed to the general optimism of the human race? Don't you mean the uptimism?  http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/maxq/Jo's_Hints.htm
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Sometimes it seems like the shorter the word, the longer the dictionary entry.
do any of you OEDers have a way to search for the *longest* dictionary entry? anyone want to hazard a guess?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
"Up" gets into some idioms that are hard to explain. For instance "I won't put up with that."
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