This is the third episode of the podcast I’ve decided to name “Many shades of”.
It’s a podcast about words with multiple meanings, where I try to look at words from different angles and in various contexts.
Today I’m talking about three words that you definitely know as adverbs or prepositions, but they may surprise you in their role as verbs. The words are “up, down, and off”.
UP
- Let’s listen to some examples.
This app has recently upped its interactivity.
Some countries are planning to up their oil production.
If you don’t want to fail these exams, you do need to up your game.
As you might’ve guessed, “to up” means to increase.
This app has recently upped its interactivity. = This app has recently increased its interactivity.
Some countries are planning to up their oil production. = Some countries are planning to increase their oil production.
If you don’t want to fail these exams, you do need to up your game.
“to up your game” means to try harder and improve what you’re doing. To paraphrase that sentence “If you don’t want to fail these exams, you do need to work harder”
DOWN
Let’s hear sentences with the verb “down”
The ice storm has downed trees and power lines all over the region.
When I go to a bar, I wanna chat with my friends and down a drink.
Their team downed ours 5-nil. It was such an embarrassment.
So, to down a tree is to make a tree fall, to down a drink is to finish a drink, and to down someone in a game is to defeat them.
OFF
Let’s also talk about the verb “to off”. It means to kill, to murder.
For example,
One of the main characters in the series was offed in the last episode.
There’s been an accident in the building. Someone has been offed.
Now take a moment and write your own sentence with one of these words. And think if you know any similar cases of an adverb used as a verb.
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