Revisiting "Up"

by AnnaLisa Michalski

originally published in the ezine-turned-blog Word-wise, June 24, 2007

The May 20 issue's comment on "The Creeping Overuse of Up" has resulted in an interesting collection of follow-up points to consider.

First, I must make an important clarification. The article referred to up several times as a preposition. When the use of up is merely a vernacular quirk and adds no meaning to a statement, I contend that it is a preposition...not because it tells of location or position, but only because "preposition" is the word's normal and common state. In that state, using up does nothing to alter the function of the verb. For example, in this sentence,

After driving 200 miles, Bill stopped to fill (up) his gas tank.

every word in the sentence has exactly the same function and meaning regardless whether the word up is included.

However, for those instances in which attaching up gives the verb a whole new meaning, it is not a preposition but instead an adverb. For example, in this sentence,

Before merchandise is made available for sale, it is marked up to allow for profit.

up is an adverb: the meaning of "mark" is completely different from the meaning of "mark up."

When I protest the addition of "meaningless prepositions," I am not referring to the use of the adverbial up. As an adverb, up is clearly anything but meaningless. To further clarify, I do not advocate avoiding the word up at all costs; I simply question our curious habit of adding it in cases when it contributes nothing to meaning.

Continuing discussion of up's part of speech would benefit from the the thoughts of a grammarian. If that describes you, please write in!

Some readers supplied more examples of up's changing the meaning of a verb. Here are a few of the best:

shut (to close) vs. shut up (to cease talking)
look (to observe) vs. look up (to search for specifically, as in a directory)
blow (to apply or direct pressurized air) vs. blow up (to cause to explode)
screw (to insert a spiral-shaped metal fastener; or, to take undue advantage of) vs. screw up (to make a mistake)

Finally, let's put a fun spin on this conversation about up. Send in a sentence that contains a verb whose meaning is changed by the inappropriate addition of up, with an unexpected or hilarious effect. The only catch is the sentence must make sense with or without the up but result in two entirely different meanings. Note the difference adding up makes in these two examples:

When it came to great prices, Gino's Furniture had the competition beat (up).
Even the most resolute prisoner may begin to crack (up) after hours of relentless questioning.

These sentences are not as easy to write as they may sound. For this reason, there is no time limit on your submissions. Select answers may be printed in future issues.