More about UP

[red750]

There was a discussion in another thread, I can't find it now, about the word UP. Read the following.

 

 UP     

Read until  the end ...  you'll laugh.     
            
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 and 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 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 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 awhile,  things dry  UP.  One could go on  and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now . . . my time  is UP!         
  
Oh . . . one more  thing:  What is the first thing you do in  the morning and the last thing you do at  night?          
  

U    P  !          

Did that one crack  you UP?          
  
Don't screw  UP.  it's UP to you.         
  
 Now I'll shut  UP!

[red750]

And if you are egotistical, you are said to be UP yourself.

[old man emu]

What useful little word is "up".

 

It can be an adverb 

1. towards a higher place or position.

   "he jumped up"
2. at or to a higher level of intensity, volume, or activity.

   "she turned the volume up"

It can be a preposition

1. from a lower to a higher point of (something).

   "she climbed up a flight of steps"
2. along or further along (a street or road).

   "he lived up the road

It can be an adjective 

1. directed or moving towards a higher place or position.

"the up escalator"

2. at an end.

"his contract was up in three weeks"

It can be a noun

INFORMAL

a period of good fortune or positive mood.

"the ups and downs of Life"

It can be a verb

1. INFORMAL

do something unexpectedly.

"she upped and left him"

2. increase (a level or amount).

"capacity will be upped by 70 per cent next year"

 

You will notice that in each of the well-researched examples above from RED , except the pun, the word "up" followed a verb. This construct is called a "phrasal verb". Phrasal verbs are phrases that indicate actions, and consist of consist of a verb and a preposition, or an adverb.

 

I shall follow RED's advice:

 

11 hours ago, red750 said:

Now I'll shut  UP!