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Up with "UP"...Another reason why English is baffling 5

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SantaMufasa

SantaMufasa

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Jul 17, 2003
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There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings 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 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 officers UP for election?

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, 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 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 1/4th 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 the earth and often messes things UP.

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...Time to shut UP...!




[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.
 
I'd be UP for that, about the friends thing, sometimes we drop UP, thereby completely screwing the whole notion of gravity :)

--Paul

cigless ...
 
PaulTEG said:
...thereby completely screwing the whole notion of gravity
Click to expand...

Paul, I believe you meant [blue]screwing UP the whole notion of gravity.[/blue]

Tim [bigsmile]

[blue]_____________________________________________________
If you need immediate assistance, please raise your hand.
If you are outside of Raleigh, raise your hand and say[/blue] [red]Ooh! Ooh![/red]
 
You can also get "knocked UP", which has an entirely different meaning in the UK than it does in the US.

UP also works as a modifier for a lot of words which one doesn't type in a polite forum. When used with UP it significantly changes the meaning of the word.

Sometimes UP and its antonym DOWN can seem to be synonyms instead. When something get blown UP or blown DOWN, the end result is still debris and rubble.

When you look something UP in the dictionary, do you write it DOWN so you'll remember it.

What's the difference between writing UP a report and writing DOWN a phone number?

When you are UP to something, are your friends DOWN with that?

When you put something UP, don't you also have to put it DOWN? (Or do you keep holding onto it?)

When you close UP the store, you expect to come back and reopen it later, but when you close DOWN the store, you don't expect to ever reopen it.

Ever notice that you come UP with good things, like an idea, but you come DOWN with bad things, like a cold?

There are also a lot of things that you can do UP that you can't do DOWN. Why is it that:

You can dream UP a good idea, but you can't dream DOWN a bad idea?

You can light UP a good cigar (in the proper place), but you can't light DOWN the smelly cigar of that guy at the next table in the restaurant?

If someone smells bad they will stink UP the room, but no amount of air freshener will stink it DOWN again?

You can whip up a cake for someone's birthday, but you can't whip DOWN the same cake when you find they're on a diet?



Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
Santa and Tracy,

THanks for the endless examples you both thought UP!

Ironically, Tracy, if one does get knocked UP, the baby can't be delivered by UPS.

And certainly hope there are no complications, or else you'll be forever tied to the hospital by one of those, um, BILLical chords (i.e., you may have to take out a NOTE in order to pay UP). Unless you arrange an installment plan, which allows you to pay DOWN the debt a bit at a time.

Tim
[green]just a tired golfer who can't decide whether to lay UP or lie DOWN[/green]

[blue]_____________________________________________________
If you need immediate assistance, please raise your hand.
If you are outside of Raleigh, raise your hand and say[/blue] [red]Ooh! Ooh![/red]
 
Knocked Up has two meanings (afaik) in the UK

1 - to be made pregnant
2 - to be woken up by somone knocking on your door

Mike

You cannot really appreciate Dilbert unless you've read it in the
original Klingon.

Want great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq219-2884

 
What's UP with the website posts? Perhaps you should give UP, hold UP, or grow UP, before you make us throw UP and your membership here on TT blows UP. UP until now I was really enjoying this UPlifting thread, but now I'm fed UP. I've brought UP the Red Flag pop-UP and it shouldn't be long before the garbage man shows UP to tell you your time is UP, as I seriously doubt this was a mix UP.

boyd.gif

 
Thumbs UP [2thumbsup], Craig ! Mike just joined Tek-Tips today and wore out his welcome in less than 24 hours...Sad...He could have enjoyed it here if he just took a couple of days to understand that we are just friends here and that friends don't let friends market to friends.

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.
 
Can we assume from Craig's and Dave's comments that there was something going on here that got RFed and deleted?

"Hey, I showed UP for work this morning, what more do you want?"

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
==> Can we assume from Craig's and Dave's comments that there was something going on here that got RFed and deleted?

Yes.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
UP" in many of the examples is nothing more than a "word-whisker".

Consider some of the examples, in which I've stricken the word "UP":

Why is it UP to the secretary to write a report?
We call our friends.

We use it to brighten a room, polish the silver, warm the leftovers and clean the kitchen.

We lock the house and some guys fix the old car.

A drain must be opened because it is stopped. We open a store in the morning but we close it at night.


Thomas D. Greer

Providing PostScript & PDF
Training, Development & Consulting
 

If you imagine a ficticious game with the coach talking to his/her best player on a time out...

1) We're three points adrift, it's all up to you now.

2) We're three points adrift, it's all down to you now.

Do these two phrases actually mean the same thing?
 
I believe they do mean the same thing and one of those "word-whiskers" (great term, BTW) is necessary, because look at the less-satisfying result if you leave off both of the whiskers:
We're three points adrift, it's all to you now.
Click to expand...
Still conveys virtually the same meaning as before, but (I believe) less satisfying...less powerful.

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.
 
I do sense a subtle difference between the two.

The difference is only from an historical perspective. When I hear "it's all down to you now", I get the impression that at least one has gone before and failed. I don't get that with "it's all up to you now". But going forward in time, they both mean to same to me.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
it's up to you" and "it's down to you" mean different things. How could they not? They are different phrases!

The former means, you are the deciding factor, regardless of what may have previously occured, and the latter means you are the deciding factor BECAUSE of what previously occured.

Thomas D. Greer

Providing PostScript & PDF
Training, Development & Consulting
 
Now, how do we Close a close call?
[rofl2]

Glen A. Johnson
If you're from the Illinois, Wisconsin or Florida area, check out Tek-Tips in Chicago IL
To get the best answers to your questions, check out faq950-5848
 
Thomas D. Greer said:
"it's up to you" and "it's down to you" mean different things. How could they not? They are different phrases!
Click to expand...
Thomas, just because they are different phrases does not necessarily imply that their meanings differ. Cases in point:
That chick is cool!
Click to expand...
versus
That chick is hot!
Click to expand...
or perhaps...
Shaquille O'Neal...he's good!
Click to expand...
versus
Shaquille O'Neal...he's bad!
Click to expand...
In each case, each antonym is a synonym...Totally different phrases result in the same meanings.




[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.
 
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