This will crack you UP!

published May 19, 2011

in the Stockton Sentinel

Stockton, Kansas

            In my thick file of interesting, inspiring and entertaining stuff to keep for sharing at an appropriate time, I have the following thought-provoking essay about the little word “up.” I don’t know who to credit for this, but I share it with you for your own consideration.

            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 adverb [adv], preposition [prep], adjective [adj], noun [n] or verb [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, why are 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 understand the proper uses of the word UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of a page and can add UP to 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, and when it does not rain for awhile, everything dries UP. One could go on and on, but I’ll wrap it UP for now and shut UP because my time is UP.