Bob’s Corner
Up and Down
From our weekly issue dated April 14, 2010
Been having some difficulty getting up in the mornings, and it“s making me feel down. Does this mean that my energy is going down while my age is going up“
Actually, the whole up-and-down situation in our language is more of a downer than an upper.
For example, when a store goes out of business, is it closing up or closing down“ When there“s a major structure fire, does the building burn up or down“ In large cities, what“s the difference between going uptown or downtown“
It“s all quite confusing to my literal editorial-type brain.
Sometimes there are significant differences in the usages of up and down. Putting someone down is way different than putting someone up, unless you“re talking about picking up an infant vs. putting the same child down.
When a TV emcee shouts to a contestant, “Come on down!“ wouldn“t it be just as good to scream, “Come on up!“ And what about telephone calls“ Why do we call up someone“ Why do we slip up“
Why not avoid using up and down when appropriate“ They often are unnecessary: Phone me. I slipped. The building burned. See what I mean“ I have to admit that there are times the words are OK and useful. Pick that up. Put that down. They make sense.
But many times the words are simply thrown in for no good reason. Why do people say they“re going to cook up something“ It“s alright to cook something down if it has too much liquid, but do we really cook it up“ Maybe we should write that down. Or do we write it up“ Perhaps we should look it up. There“s an upside and a downside to most every situation.
And notice that we work hard to avoid using that cheap and lazy word, “things.“ We strive to find the proper word, rather than taking the easy way out by utilizing “things.“
What“s up with that“
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