What about Up?

Many students hesitate to erase unnecessary words from their essays. Why? Some say they don’t know why. Others look at me with a frown or a wrinkled nose. What we don’t realize is that when it comes to prose, less is often more, and a hectic student lifestyle is no excuse for submitting a first draft that is almost always loaded with excessive words and phrases. As tutors, one piece of advice we give students is to put the writing aside for a while and let it “cool.” When we look back at the writing in a day or two, we often spot unnecessary words and phrases that eluded our scrutiny the first time.

To illustrate, I start by choosing a little word that we all use, the little word above. It is a useful word, a good word, when it is needed. But often it is not. To find out, I spent an afternoon looking for ups that were useless or at least questionable, an exercise that showed me the need to find and delete other words that are just taking up (?) Space. It didn’t take me long to find:

“listen, write, write, read, button, eat, burn, register, finish, fix, open, close, use, turn on, partner, rush, hurry load, fill, close, buy, light up, save, pay, call , summon, launch and launch (when I turn on my computer, Windows ™ tells me that it is starting), and of those cops and robbers programs, ‘You have a lawyer’ “.

In another example, in the shooter movie, “Training Day,” Denzel Washington keeps telling his frightened apprentice, Ethan Hawke, to “Man up.” Are we to understand that he wants Ethan’s character to stop whining and hardening? Like men, eccentrics get a free pass when a writer chooses jargon intentionally and not carelessly. But surely there must be a better way to tell someone to get tough. I don’t see a woman who allows Oprah or Dr. Phil to gently touch her arm and say, “Come on, woman.”

Maybe he doesn’t like cowgirls

These and other examples like them may be acceptable when writing dialogue or slang, but I still find myself casting a suspicious eye, especially when I come across a debatable candidate like hook up. Webster says it should mean physically connecting something, like a trailer or a power cord. In another definition, he calls it “an alliance or agreement between two governments.” Today, we have two variants of flirting jargon: one says that flirting means that people get together for any reason; the other says it means that men and women come together to get it right. It doesn’t matter as Hanky ​​Panky’s version will probably fade away. And considering my druthers, I’d reserve the hook and it’s up for the trailer and power cord.

Recently, while having lunch at a fancy bistro, I noticed the Cowboy Up menu item. It’s a burger dipped in barbecue sauce and other seasonings. I didn’t order it, nor do I have the slightest idea what the name refers to. I imagine the bistro’s intent was to serve up a burger that would make men feel like the Marlboro Man, even without a horse. In case you’re wondering, there was no Cowgirl Up. Maybe the bistro owner doesn’t like cowgirls.

In his book, “The Writer’s Art,” James J. Kilpatrick sees the little word as “… one of those idiomatic barnacles that clings to the keel of a sentence. But they must be pruned to … saddle the horse. .. and finish the task. When you look down at an up in your copy, see if the up can’t be lifted. “

Defending a few

Among the long list of useful ups in the dictionary, and in our spoken vocabularies, there are special cases that deserve mention. One that will endure, I’m sure, is the floppy-eared carrot-chewing greeting, “Ehh … what’s up, doc?” Another phrase that’s been around for a while is picked up, highlighted by the 2007 hit comedy Knocked Up. My Webster includes Knocked Down, But Not Knocked Down. Most British dictionaries include it, but there it has less to do with loving it and more to do with waking up. For the British, knocking means interfering with sleep by knocking on the door.

You should also mention words with prefixes above, words like optimistic, update, update and maintenance. I cannot argue with those examples, and there are many. There is also a need, I suppose, for idiom improvements like give up the ghost, it’s up to you, and live it. Kindergarten teachers and parents with young children say they need the lift that comes with sitting, too.

As long as we hand out free passes, we should give one to defend. After all, what literate bank robber would hand a teller a note that said, “This is a stick!” And if we renounce the persecution, we could also renounce Harrison Ford’s criticism of Anne Heche in the movie “Six Days, Seven Nights” (“You’re Trapped!”). As writers, our job is to train our critical eye and stand firm to help fulfill our purpose.

Another unanimous guardian is Winston Churchill’s memorable response to a junior officer who read one of Winston’s memos. In this example, the problem is grammar, but who can forget Winston’s clever use of an up? After reading the memo, the NCO found it necessary to tell the Prime Minister that he had ended a sentence with a preposition. “This,” said Sir Winston, “is exactly the kind of nonsense I am not going to say.”

Finally, it was not my intention to cause trouble for up lovers. Like any word my classmates choose, it must be necessary. But sure, I’m never going to collect all the unnecessary uploads, anyway, so instead of getting mad, I could just chill out, find the nearest pub, and go up to the bar, assuming the venue isn’t like this. t raised the tummy. It seems like a good idea, since the editor tells me it’s time to shut up.

Lee B. Woods
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Reprinted with permission: Penn State University, The Dangling Edit
Flight. 14, Fall 2010 Issue 17 No 1