The Wonder Of The Word 'UP'

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? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and cleanUP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

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?

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.

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.

And this UP is often confusing:

A drain must be penned 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! 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 & on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now ... my time is UP, so time to shut UP!

Don't screw UP. Send this on to everyone you look UP in your address book. Now I'll shut up!

Tag:Word,UP

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