289. ¿Qué significa up?

Up nos dice que algo está en una posición más alta, o se está desplazando hacia una posición más alta:

The twins have bunk beds. Joel sleeps up top, and Kasper is down below.

Do you want to go up in the lift or walk up the stairs?

Eso incluye estar, o ponerse, en posición vertical:

Stand up, Sam.

How do you close off a border that big? Put up a fence?

Dado que no se duerme en posición vertical, up se ha terminado asociando a ‘estar despierto’:

Miles has been up for hours. I guess he’s nervous.

The music from next door kept me up until gone 4.

De una manera bastante intuitiva, se considera que up implica también una idea de aumento, ya sea en tamaño, volumen, cantidad o energía:

With Iva on holiday, the work is piling up (se está acumulando).

The number of people out of work has gone up again.

Why don’t you heat up the soup? That’ll warm you up.

Most clubs round here don’t liven up till at least midnight, and usually later.

Speak up! I can’t hear a word you’re saying.

También puede significar ‘ser/estar mejor’ o ‘mejora’:

We’re hoping to do the kitchen up next year. At the very least we want to paint it.

Floyd cancelled our date, so I’m sitting here all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Como se considera que crear cosas es algo positivo, up también puede significar ‘crear’:

Mum used to read to us, but Dad would make up bedtime stories.

She got a job at some internet start-up that did really well.

Esa idea de creación puede ampliarse hasta abarcar también el significado de ‘aparecer’:

You wouldn’t believe who turned up at the party!

Your name popped up in the conversation.

Up también se usa con el significado de ‘completar una actividad y/o hacerlo bien’:

If you don’t eat up your dinner, you can’t have any ice cream.

Get a plate! I’ve just hoovered up in here.

It was getting cold, so he zipped up his coat, and put on his gloves.

Aunque ese sentido de ‘completamente’ no siempre se aplica a cosas positivas:

Frank and his wife have just broken up / split up.

The injury has messed up his chances of being fit for the tournament on Saturday.

A menudo hablamos de cómo se terminan las cosas utilizando end up, finish up o wind up, seguido de un verbo acabado en -ing, un noun phrase, un adjectival phrase o un adverbial:

It started out fine, but we wound up arguing about the housework again.

We finished up the meeting with a review of the yearly accounts.

She likes the guy, but she’s so scared she’ll end up hurt again that she said no.

Take up se usa con el significado de ‘iniciar una actividad’. Como lo contrario de take es give, give up significa ‘dejar de hacer algo’:

I’m thinking of taking up golf when I retire. It’ll get me out the house for a few hours a day.

Don’t listen to her. She gave up smoking and she’s in a terrible mood.