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 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?
U
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Did that one crack you *UP*?
Don't screw *UP*. Send this on to everyone you look *UP* in your address book . . . Or not . . . it's *UP* to you.
Now I'll shut *UP*!