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Use this forum to suggest Good Words for Professor Beard.
Perry Lassiter
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Postby Perry Lassiter » Sun Oct 12, 2014 8:47 pm

Found on my Facebook. Maybe you've seen it.
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Sent: Friday, October 10, 2014 9:40 PM

Subject: Fwd: 2-Lettered Word - I really never thought about this before but it sure helps one understand why some people in the US do not want to learn English. :-)))

Here’s a word in the English language that can be a noun, verb, adj, adv, prep. Oy veh!

UP

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 UPfor election and why is itUP to the secretary to write UP a report? We callUP 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 UPabout 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 takeUP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UPwith 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 dryUP. 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

P!

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'sUP to you.

Now I'll shut UP!

This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.

--Fred Voreh
pl

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Dr. Goodword
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Re: Up

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:46 pm

I've long since put this one to rest: http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=928

However, this is the funniest misrepresentation of the word that I've read.
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William Hupy
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Re: Up

Postby William Hupy » Mon Oct 13, 2014 4:28 pm

And why do we chop down a tree but cut it UP for firewood? In addition there is a region in the United States known as the UP. Up may be similar to the word "did". Scholars may disagree, but I have it on good authority that this is a vestige of the original Celtic language spoken in England before the Saxon invasion. No other language in the word added "did" to a verb except Celtic, or so I am told. The other Indo-European languages do not do this. For example: Did you buy the book? In Spanish you merely use the verb and the object: compra el libro?
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Re: Up

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Oct 13, 2014 10:21 pm

One of the distinguishing characteristics of English is the requirement that an auxiliary verb head a question and in the absence of an natural auxiliary, did is the default auxiliary.
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Philip Hudson
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Re: Up

Postby Philip Hudson » Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:56 pm

And where would we bee without auxiliaries? Ever worthwhile Male organization has a Women's Auxiliary. At least they did before woman's lib let them in to their natural born role of boss. :)
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.


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