The Many Directions of 'Up'

 

            Today's snack: It's a silly combination, but make sunny-side UP eggs in a skillet (2 per person), and wash down with a glass of 7-UP!

 

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Supplies:

A piece of lined paper numbered from 1 to 50; pen or pencil

 

 

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word. That word is UP.

 

You can look it UP!

 

UP is listed in the dictionary as:

 

§   an adverb (modifies action)

 

§   a preposition (shows direction)

 

§   an adjective (modifies a noun), or

 

§   a verb (action).

 

It's easy to understand UP, when it means toward the sky or an object that is on top of a tall piece of furniture. But when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?  Why is it UP to the last batter to win the game? These are the more abstract uses of the word, and they seem to be endless.

 

Brainstorm all the different uses for the word UP, and list them. Can you come up with 50? Are you . . . UP to the task?

 

Examples:

 

§         At a meeting, a topic comes UP.

 

§         When we talk out loud, we speak UP.

 

§         We put people UP for political office.

 

If you get stuck, think of every room in the house . . . different occupations . . . ways to compete . . . ways to communicate . . . clothing . . . emotions . . . and you can always check a large-size dictionary for more examples.

 

Don't screw UP! Now I'll shut UP!