What's it with up?
What's it with up?
(OP)
UP UP UP?
What's it with up?
Up used to be a direction-the opposite of down, the direction of gravity force.
Is "open up" more open than open? I don't think so.
"He is going to open up a business." You have heard that?
He really is going to open [start] a business.
'Open the door' conveys a message, a meaning. It is clear and not ambiguous.
"Open up" makes as much sense as "open down".
There is a term which really grinds me, and that is "listen up". Absolute nonsense!!! Doubletalk and gobbledegook!!! I really don't know how to 'listen up'.
If you mean 'pay attention', or 'listen carefully', say so.
There appear to be certain people who are impelled to say 'up' when there is no good reason to say it. They are driven to say 'up'. They can't help themselves. They have little or no will power.
THE CHALLENGE is to say 'open' without saying up. Can you do it?
( up is a filler, a noise, something to extend the conversation,
something to make you appear hip, sophisticated, and suave,
groovy, in-the-know, moderne, cool, very smart.
It does not communicate an intelligent meaning.)
SILLY TALK GOOD TALK
mix up mix
gather up gather
wrap up end, complete, finish
sand up, paint up sand, paint [Norm says this, and more]
cook up cook
wire up (from my favorite TV home show), wire
finish up finish, complete, end
add up add
If you tell someone to add up some numbers,
do they? NO. They start at the top and add down.
So do I. Don't you?
jimbo
What's it with up?
Up used to be a direction-the opposite of down, the direction of gravity force.
Is "open up" more open than open? I don't think so.
"He is going to open up a business." You have heard that?
He really is going to open [start] a business.
'Open the door' conveys a message, a meaning. It is clear and not ambiguous.
"Open up" makes as much sense as "open down".
There is a term which really grinds me, and that is "listen up". Absolute nonsense!!! Doubletalk and gobbledegook!!! I really don't know how to 'listen up'.
If you mean 'pay attention', or 'listen carefully', say so.
There appear to be certain people who are impelled to say 'up' when there is no good reason to say it. They are driven to say 'up'. They can't help themselves. They have little or no will power.
THE CHALLENGE is to say 'open' without saying up. Can you do it?
( up is a filler, a noise, something to extend the conversation,
something to make you appear hip, sophisticated, and suave,
groovy, in-the-know, moderne, cool, very smart.
It does not communicate an intelligent meaning.)
SILLY TALK GOOD TALK
mix up mix
gather up gather
wrap up end, complete, finish
sand up, paint up sand, paint [Norm says this, and more]
cook up cook
wire up (from my favorite TV home show), wire
finish up finish, complete, end
add up add
If you tell someone to add up some numbers,
do they? NO. They start at the top and add down.
So do I. Don't you?
jimbo
Buy a dictionary, keep it nearby and USE it. Webster's New World Dictionary of American English is recommended, and Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.





RE: What's it with up?
Many people appear to be unsatisfied by speaking only a single syllable, so something else gets tacked on to produce a more satisfying oratory experience.
RE: What's it with up?
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RE: What's it with up?
Good talk: Hurl
RE: What's it with up?
I just consulted my dictionary (Macquarie), and it lists no less than 63 uses of the word "up" under the main headword - all of which are real uses implying higher / greater / etc, and none of which are the meaningless space-filler usage that so offends you.
RE: What's it with up?
RE: What's it with up?
jimbo,
Sorry but I keep failing your challenge. Those doors just keep opening-up almost on their own accord and I keep standing up. As MJ says, "it's not a very satisfying oratorical experience to simply say, "stand." Almost more demanding than the command to "stand up." As Sanford would say, "why use one word when many will do?" Don't you add up after adding down to check your work? I do.
RE: What's it with up?
"listen up", "stand up", "sit up" as examples- I really thought they were correct. I'm amazed :(
One of the books had the phrase "listen up" as it's title..
I'll never understand English:( Couldn't you be a bit less complicated?
Che Dio ce la mandi buona, o almeno ce la mandi- Massimiliano Eusebi
RE: What's it with up?
Can you really fall any direction other than down?
RE: What's it with up?
In many cases, 'up' is functioning as an intesifying adverb, so 'listen up' is more emphatic then simply listen.
That being said, 'up' may be the most overused word in English, except like, for maybe 'like'.
Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
RE: What's it with up?
Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane
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I thought it was "ol'", as in "good ol' Mizzurah."
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RE: What's it with up?
How you can tell when it can be left out and when it shouldn't...oy. Prepositions in a foreign language never make any sense, and the difference in meaning conveyed by "up" can be subtle--and as a non-native speaker you're not in the best position to judge when the meaning changes. For example, the difference between "sum up" amd "sum" might not be obvious--the first means "summarize" and the second means "add". I guess one way to tell would be to see if you can find the "up" version listed as such in some dictionary or other. If you can't, then maybe the "up" doesn't need to be there.
Hg
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Another pet peeve, heard on PBS and Classical music stations:
"The time is coming up on eight o'clock."
Common usage can be so . . . common.
Larry
RE: What's it with up?
RE: What's it with up?
Now that you have sensitized me to this, every time I start to use an "up" expression, I have to stop and think if it makes sense and find myself rewriting things a lot. So it is only fair that I sensitize you too to:
double U, double U, double U
I get so sick of hearing that. Why don't people just say "World Wide Web" and get done with it in syllables/3. Did I already rant about this in anotjer thread?
RE: What's it with up?
Go Mechanical Engineering
Tobalcane
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Larry
RE: What's it with up?