Sir, On the subject of grammatical uses of “up”, my pet hate is the ubiquitous “next up”, now so commonly used by many TV presenters. Surely there is a better way of introducing someone.
Minna D. L. Andrews
Burntwood, Staffs
Sir, While I agree there is too much use of adding “up” needlessly, there are times when it changes the meaning of a word (letters, June 1, 2, 4 & 5). As a Blue Badge guide I was showing an American couple around St Bartholomew’s Church in Smithfield last week. I think the wife might have been a little startled had I told her that I would pause to let her husband catch me before continuing with our tour.
Sally Pitel
London NW6
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Sir, Wondering if it really is unnecessary to add “up” to verbs, I took down my dictionary and looked it.
Dr Simon Honeyball
Chilton, Devon