Tuesday, May 18

UP


Lovers of the English language, enjoy this...

It is an example of why people learning English

have so much trouble.

Learning the nuances of English makes it a

difficult language.

.....
This two-letter word in English has more meanings

than any other two-letter word, and that word is

'UP.'

It is listed in the dictionary 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.

Why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish

UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP

the kitchen.

We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car. At other

times this little word has really 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 the word UP !

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP,

look UP 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, the earth soaks it UP . When it does not

rain for a while, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap this UP for now

because my time is UP !


16 comments:

Pat said...

You forgot;
'Up the revolution!' - a battle cry.
AND - now this is a little rude - sometimes ill bred people, as a gesture of defiance will say:
'Up yours!' - with an accompanying gesture.
Delete at will;)

Star said...

Amazing isn't it? UP should be worth extra points in word games! When Zoe puts her arms out to be rescued from the playpen I ask her if she wants UP.

MaR said...

You cheered up my day, kenju, thanks for this post!!
:D

bobbie said...

And when my oldest was a baby and wanted me to pick her up from her crib, she would always say "down".

This is a fascinating post.

Granny Annie said...

Wuz up?

Evil Twin's Wife said...

English is indeed a very difficult language. I speak Spanish and a bit of French too and they seem so well laid out compared to English! LOL.

Arkansas Patti said...

Oops, like Pat, I also thought "up yours." Maybe it is a Patricia gene. Though I have never said it, I have surely thought it.
Right now I have to get UP from this computer and go vote. Hope it will make those candidated finally "shut UP"

Kay Dennison said...

This post brightened 'UP' my day!!!!

Joy Des Jardins said...

Yikes...what's UP with that? That was fun... ~Joy

Grannymar said...

If it were UP to me, I'd UP, UP and away to UP-load my photos!

Cazzie!!! said...

Hmmm, up to nod good, lol

Annika kafe´resor och Riga said...

And up,up and away from Sweden!

Travelin'Oma said...

This is right up my alley. I love words!

Anonymous said...

That's actually fascinating!
~S

OldLady Of The Hills said...

LOL, LOL...This is amazing! Who knew?? I am always in awe of the people who put these kinds of things together. So clever and so true, too!

oklhdan said...

This just cracked me up! Who'd have thunk there were so many uses for the word up!