There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has
more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word
is ?UP?. It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an
[adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or
at the top of the list, but when we awaken 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 and 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.
At other times the little word has a 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 UP 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 about the proper uses of UP, look the
word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it
takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about
thirty definitions.
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 does not 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 time to shut UP !
***
Now I'll shut up.
Author
Topic: UP is confusing (Read 798 times)