ONLY IN AMERICAN ENGLISH CAN ONE WORD BE A NOUN, VERB, ADJECTIVE , PREPOSITION
OR AN ADVERB!!
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 & 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 & the last
thing you do at night? GET UP!
Did that one crack you UP?
