What a strange language we speak!

[163phil]

[FONT=Verdana][COLOR=black]There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps[/COLOR] has more meanings than any other two-letter word...and that word is [U][COLOR=red]'UP.'[/COLOR][/U] It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].


It's easy to understand[U][COLOR=red] UP[/COLOR][/U] meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U]?
At a meeting, why does a topic come [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] ? Why do we speak[COLOR=red] [U]UP[/U][/COLOR], and why are the officers [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] for electionand why is it[U][COLOR=red] UP[/COLOR][/U] to the secretary to write [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] a report? We call[U][COLOR=red] UP[/COLOR][/U] our friends and we use it to brighten [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] a room, polish [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] the silver, we warm [COLOR=Red][U]UP[/U][/COLOR] the leftovers and clean[U][COLOR=red] UP[/COLOR][/U] the kitchen. We lock [U][COLOR=red]UP [/COLOR][/U]the house and some guys fix [U][COLOR=red]UP [/COLOR][/U]the old car. At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] trouble, line[U] [COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] for tickets, work [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] an appetite, and think [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] is special.

[COLOR=black]And this [/COLOR][U][COLOR=red]up[/COLOR][/U] is confusing:
A drain must be opened [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] because it is stopped[U][COLOR=red] UP.[/COLOR][/U]

We open [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] a shop in the morning but we close it [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U]at night. We seem to be pretty mixed[U][COLOR=red] UP [/COLOR][/U]about [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] .

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] , look the word [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] almost 1/4 of the page and can add [U][COLOR=red] UP[/COLOR][/U] to about thirty definitions

If you are [COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR] to it, you might try building[COLOR=red] [U]UP[/U][/COLOR] a list of the many ways[U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] is used. It will take[U][COLOR=red] UP[/COLOR][/U] a lot of your time,but if you don't give [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U], you may wind [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U]. When it rains, it wets [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry [U][COLOR=red]UP.[/COLOR][/U]

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U] , for now ........my time is[COLOR=red] [U]UP[/U][/COLOR] , so time to shut [U][COLOR=red]UP[/COLOR][/U]!

Oh...one more thing:
What is the first thing you d o in the morning & the last thing you do at night?
[SIZE=4][U][COLOR=red]U [/COLOR][/U][/SIZE][SIZE=4][COLOR=red] [U]P[/U][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[inpar]

Very true and very clever ... I love the English language, but all I ever seem to do is bugger it up !! ooops another one.

[cambs flyer]

Nicely done OB3, great thread and so very true. :cheers2:

[Gaz]

[COLOR=black]Great stuff! :cheers2:[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]Let's face it - English is a crazy language. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]There is no egg in eggplant, ham in hamburger or apple or pine in pineapple.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, aren’t bread, they are meat. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]We take English for granted but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]If teachers have taught, have preachers not praught? [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]Why can we see the stars when they are out, but can't see the lights when the lights are out? [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]1) The bandage was wound around the wound. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]2) The farm was used to produce produce. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]4) We must polish the Polish furniture. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]10) I did not object to the object. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]13) They were too close to the door to close it. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?[/COLOR]

[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2][COLOR=black]PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with ‘quick’?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

[chemicalbro]

very cool Gaz
its amazing how we read words depending on context without even thinking about it.