Date:  Mon, 17 Jul 1995 19:47:59 -0500

From:  Daniel S Goodman <dsg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAROON.TC.UMN.EDU>

Subject: ? Regionalism: "Put up," "Up" (fwd)



---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 19:45:30 -0400

From:NLGilbert[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]aol.com

To: STUMPERS-LIST[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CRF.CUIS.EDU

Cc: jhunt[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]dhvx20.csudh.edu

Subject: ? Regionalism: "Put up," "Up"





Dear stumpers,



Now that I have moved to the same coast as my parents' home, I am frequently

reminded of a regional phrase in American English. This term is so regional

that I have never heard anyone other than my parents use it. Might anyone in

the wide world of stumpers have encountered it?



The phrase is "put up," sometimes just "up," with approximately the following

meaning:



To put something up seems to mean to activate a process (often involving a

machine or heat or hot water) that will convert that something to a desired

state.



Examples:



"Honey, are you going to put up the dishes," i.e. run the dishwasher.

"I'll put up some water for coffee," i.e. put it on the stove to boil.

"Please put up the laundry," i.e. run the washing machine.



Once something has been put up, it is "up" while its process is happening.

 Once the process is done, it's no longer up -- it's done.



Samples of "up":



Q: Are the dishes still up?

A: No, they're done.



Q: Is the coffee up?

A: Yes, it should be ready in a few minutes.



Q: Why is the hot water in the shower suddenly running cold?

A: Because the laundry is up.





"Put up" was never used in my family in the sense of, say, putting up pickles

or preserving food. You could, of course, "put up" paintings on the walls.





Any insight or further citations of my family's meaning of "put up" would be

appreciated. I think it came from my mother's mother's family, where the

language would have been Yiddish touched by Russian.



Thank you,



Nina Gilbert

Choral conductor, music historian, and editor

Falls Church, Virginia