Read until
the end ... You'll laugh.
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 officersUP 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 mixedUP 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 and 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 and the last thing you do at
night?
