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Recent Posts
The Odd English Language: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
In the English language, there is a two-letter word that has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is UP. It is listed in the dictionary as an adverb, preposition, adjective, noun, or verb! (Click here for the Merriam-Webster Dictionary link and keep scrolling down the page.) There are over 30 definitions!
I cannot claim total originality for what follows (I think variations of this have circulated before), but it sure is fun to explore for us word lovers!
At first, it is easy to understand the word UP, meaning toward the sky or a higher position, but think about all the other ways we use this word:
You wake UP.
At a meeting, topics come UP.
Political candidates are UP for election.
Your smile can brighten UP a room.
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
You line UP for tickets.
People speak UP or take UP a cause.
And if a person is speaking too softly, we ask them to “speak UP!”
To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
With the right skill, you can fix UP the old car.
It is UP to someone at work to write UP a report.
You call UP your friends.
Please look UP your friends in your address book.
Unfortunately, you can take UP with the wrong crowd.
You work UP an appetite.
At dinner time, you warm UP leftovers and then clean UP the kitchen.
Don’t forget to lock UP the house.
A disaster strikes, and you must pick UP the pieces.
By clicking a thumbs-UP, you can say you “like” something online.
After the rain, we say the sky is clearing UP.
If it has not rained for a while, we say it is drying UP.
The bad kid in class always stirs UP trouble.
You think UP excuses.
Someone must open UP a store in the morning but remember to close it UP at night.
A Pixar movie is called “Up.”
Time to wrap this UP.
So, if you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time; but if you don’t give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
[This post ran over a decade ago, and I thought I’d bring it UP again. Pun intended.]
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Fun Fridays – July 10, 2026
The World Cup of Soccer is still going on with the teams whittled down to only a few still in the competition. There was a particular match played years ago that was captured on film by those odd men whose group is called Monty Pyton’s Flying Circus. This particular match between Greece and Germany is one that anyone with a modicum of philosophical knowledge will thoroughly enjoy. (The referees are Confucius, Augustine, and Aquinas.) Have fun! (If you cannot see the video in your email newsletter feed, click through to our website where you can enjoy it.) HT: Dan Balow …
The Making of Many Books
Today, we wish a happy 125th birthday to the late British author Barbara Cartland, who died in 2000, just before turning 99. If you have never heard of her, it might be worth a minute or two to familiarize yourself with a very distinctive, flamboyant, prolific, and best-selling author. Photos of her and her home are alone worth a thousand words. She wrote romance novels in the historical and contemporary genres for the broad, general market. To say she was prolific is an understatement. During her lifetime, Barbara had over 700 books published and sold a billion copies worldwide. At …
The Romance of the Scam
Many people have written about book scams, but I was surprised to receive a letter about an old title of mine, More than Friends. At the moment, I have no plans to re-enter the writing world. I love being a literary agent so much that I wasn’t tempted. I’m sharing this because the tactic employed is the same as that in a romance scam. Rather than a love affair promised to a lonely person, this is the potential of a friendship with a colleague, one who supposedly admires my work. This ploy is more sophisticated than one that initially asks …
Monday Moments – July 6, 2026
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all …