Posted on 11/14/2008 4:42:45 AM PST by Lucky9teen
In honor of Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day, let's look at a few of the more than three hundred up phrasings Merriam-Webster managed to collect. Those terms range from act up to bottoms up to (of course) loosen up and lighten up, to thumbs up and walk up. We're up to our neck in up words, and we'll tell you right up front that we've only got time for two up terms.
A defendant up on serious charges whose alibi is not up to snuff might find him- or herself sent up the river. Where is up the river from? That term meaning "jail" comes from New York's notorious Sing Sing prison, located in Ossining, up the river from New York City.
As for up to snuff: it's a dead end to assume the snuff in that phrase originates in the slangy snuff meaning "execute; extinguish." Something is said to be up to snuff when it meets an applicable standard or is considered to be of sufficient quality. What sort of snuff serves as such a benchmark? The snuff in up to snuff refers to the pulverized tobacco variously inhaled, chewed, or placed against the gums. Lexicographers don't know how this up to snuff metaphor developed, but it may have something to do with a high status once associated with snuff. Nuff said.
and 2063 years later, more or less, what have we learned?
“The budget should be balanced. The treasury should be refilled.
Public debt should be reduced. The arrogance of officialdom should be
tempered and controled. Assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed
lest Rome become bankrupt. Instead of living on public assistance,
people must learn to work.”
Cicero, 55BC
Ha ha ha ha! I would love to know what Mom said when she found out...
One day a man discovered a glitch in Obama’s “messianic resume”.
“Hey, how come if Obama’s the “messiah” and the list is long on messianic names, at Harvard Law School he took:
“Aggressive Practices for Attorneys” versus
“Wonderful Counselor”?
Read it from right to left, bottom to top...you’ll easily get them all.
Anyone good at bumper stickers?
Obama 08 change to: “Obama 08 Percent Tax Hike”
That’s funny!
Jeff Gordon fires his whole pit crew!!
This announcement followed Gordon’s decision to take advantage of the government’s scheme to employ some Harlem youngsters.
The decision to hire them was brought about by a recent documentary on how unemployed youths from Harlem were able to remove a set of wheels in less than six seconds without proper equipment, whereas Gordon’s existing crew could only do it in 8 seconds with millions of dollars worth of high tech equipment.
It was thought to be an excellent and bold move by Jeff Gordon’s management team, as most races are won or lost in the pits.
However, Gordon got more than he bargained for! At the crew’s first practice session, not only was the inexperienced crew able to change all 4 wheels in under 6 seconds, but within 12 seconds they had resprayed, rebadged and sold the car to Dale Earnhardt for ten cases of Bud, a bag of weed, and some photos of Jeff Gordon’s wife in the shower.
Elderly Road Trip
While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant, and resumed their trip. When leaving, the elderly woman unknowingly left her glasses on the table, and she didn’t miss them until they had been driving about forty minutes. By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses. All the way back, the elderly husband became the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained, and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became. He just wouldn’t let up one minute. To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car, and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, ‘While you’re in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card.’
A complicated move in Car-Jenga. How would you respond to this play?
I got 4 and I didn’t do a recount. Measure twice, cut once.
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