You lovers of the English language might enjoy this . . .
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 understandUP,meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wakeUP? At a meeting, why does a topic comeUP? Why do we speakUPand why are the officersUPfor election and why is itUPto the secretaryto writeUPa report?
We callUPour friends. And we use it to brightenUPa room, polishUPthe silver, we warmUPthe leftovers and cleanUPthe kitchen. We lockUPthe house and some guys fixUPthe old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stirUPtrouble, lineUPfor tickets, workUPan appetite, and thinkUPexcuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressedUPis special.
And thisUPis confusing: A drain must be openedUPbecause it is stoppedUP. We openUPa store in the morning but we close itUP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixedUPaboutUP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses ofUP,look the word UPin the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takesUPalmost 1/4th of the page and can addUPto about thirty definitions. If you areUPto it, you might try buildingUPa list of the many waysUPis used. It will takeUPa lot of your time, but if you don't giveUP, you may windUPwith a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is cloudingUP. 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 itUP, for now my time isUP, so............ Time to shutUP.....!
Oh...one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U-P
I can think of one important UP left out!
