She shows UP & jumps UP, to be right UP there, UP on the desk with me, or UP in my lap, usually UP to no good & hanging around until I finish what I am UP to, or, I decide to give UP.
All of which leads UP to introducing the interesting -- & informative -- essay my friend "Bubba" sent to me on the many uses in our lives of the word ... "UP".
UP
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, it soaks 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!
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?
Lately I have been using my laptop a lot more since my daughter is now heavily involved on the family computer with her games. I setup at the dinner table and Evil Spock the Cat likes to come look at what I am doing. Usually to the point he is walking on the keyboard.
ReplyDeleteSo far I have caught, I think, all of Spock's attempts to post on the internet.
Double check for a Facebook account.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for people who are trying to learn English because of words like UP.
ReplyDeleteMy cat got in the way of the computer screen. I told him to move his cat butt out of the way. He complied when he was assured that I would pet him. A-Choo!
I have to admire people who came to our country as small children & learned English from watching TV. I've tried to learn Spanish from watching Galavision & I'm hopeless.
ReplyDelete