This was sent to me by a friend recently. I am posting it today as I believe lovers of the English language might enjoy this. Happy reading and have a nice day! Cheers!
ENGLISH AIN'T EASY, BABY!
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 the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?
We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we 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 clearingUP ...
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... it is time to shut UP! *just kidding*
14 comments to UP, UP and MORE...
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mokja dear masterwordsmith,
rightly so,english is fun but sometimes confusing.What is up is not always up.Throw up! but never is it up for we throw down. I mean takut terkena m....h sendiri.Betulkan?
Bye.
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Johan H How true, I never thought of it! Some people say the hardest language to learn is Chinese with its 30 thousand odd characters. I still think its English because of its sheer number of exceptions and UP is a great example. The speed at which English is evolving and branching is mind boggling.
By the way, mind sharing how did you first learn English? Was it in school? I learned mine the old fashioned way - by listening to the radio (songs mostly) and mimicking. The meaning behind those sound bites came to me waaay later, haha.
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Anonymous Haven't YOU tasted 7UP !!??
'mine' used to be UP every morning
BUT ...sighs !
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Anonymous Every time when my hormone levels are UP, I will call my girlfriend UP. She’ll usually say, “What’s UP?”, and I’ll ask if I can come UP to her place. She’ll say “Sure, I’ll wait UP for you”. Then we’ll end UP in bed. But before I could warm UP and get my tool UP she’ll say she’s not UP to it. She’ll come UP with some stupid excuse like, “Listen UP, I have been UP the whole day and feeling tired. Some other time, OK?” We’ll be like me all fired UP and she won’t open UP, so we end UP doing nothing except sit UP in bed talking about my dog. Eventually, I knew it would be an UP hill task. So, before an argument hots UP, I’ll give UP.
So, to sum it all UP, instead of screwing, I screwed UP. :-(
StraightTalking
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Unknown Dear Angelina and Brad
Sorry for this late response. I had to meet a deadline by today and just finished! Phew!
Please do write that article - it would compliment this one beautifully!
Take care and have a great weekend!
Salam
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Unknown Dear mokjadeandell
Thanks so much for visiting. It is lovely to hear from you again. You are right @ English being a confusing language indeed haha!
Please keep in touch ok? Have a great weekend.
Salam
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Unknown Dear Johan,
Actually, Mandarin IS the most difficult language to learn! I have studied French, German and am learning Spanish. I was hopeless in Mandarin and my teacher gave up on me. I can converse fluently in Mandarin but am illiterate there haha.
Actually, I learnt my English from reading - I devoured books from te age of 3. In school, my ambition was to finish reading all the books in the school library (primary, secondary and sixth form). I did not finish reading all the books in the uni library but did finish all the fiction books :-). Also, I read lots of comics, listened to RAAF radio station and pop songs in the 60's and 70's. Oh - those were the days, my friend...I really thought they'd never end...:-)
Thanks so much for sharing and for reading. Take care and have a blessed weekend. Do keep in touch!
Warmest wishes
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 1.46pm
That is because you must get up and exercise haha!!!
Btw, it has been a very long time since I tasted 7UP!
Take care and enjoy the weekend!
Cheers
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Unknown Dear StraightTalking
Brilliant response! Great to have you back again. How I have missed your witty and clever comments.
I really enjoyed this input of yours that jives nicely with the post. Thanks so much for sharing so effortlessly. If only I can write like you do...
Have a great weekend with your loved ones and Lucy!
Do keep in touch and hope to meet you and yours one day!
Warmest regards
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Anonymous NO more 7-up but Kickapoo the joy juice which kicks me UP, UP & MORE ......!
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Unknown Dear Anon @ 12.23am
Kickapoo is somewhat like Mountain Dew and can give us that boost of energy!
However, watch out for the sugar!!
Take care and God bless you!
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johnnie lim Dear Paula,
thanks for the interesting write up.
a change from the normal politics stuff.
The way things are going, everything is going up , cost of living etc.things are not improving and it appear we are going an up hill battle .
But we do hope people will wise up especially those supporters of BN will wake up and it's time they voice up and as long as there is hope of a change let's not give up!
have a nice week end my friend.
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Unknown Dear Johnnie
You are most welcome! Thanks also for your comment that not only gels with the post but also with the current events of our country. Take care and let's continue to pray for divine intervention for a new dawn in our country.
Have a blessed day!
Shalom
Cat-from-Sydney Up and Up and Away!
Aunty Paula, on the other hand, we could write an article in a similar vein using the word "DOWN". Oops...I hope this doesn't make you feel let down. har har har *evil laughs*