Grammar that makes you cringe

[Auntie Helen]

And in German they use "aufhören" for "to stop" (looks as if it translates to "listen up")

[Cudzoziemiec]

Back is redundant here, surely, Ian?*

What about this one?

Slow down/slow up   Anyone any idea how the latter came about?  I use both, haphazardly, though the first is the ony one that seems to make sense.

*ETA unless it's a quotation from a policeman's notebook!

We say "pull up" to mean stop, and I think there are other "... up"s meaning stop, but I can't recall them right now!

BTW are you referring to
ETA the armed Basque separatist group?

Oh, do let up! You're not going to convince us, so you might as well give up.

[clarion]

Doesn't pull up come from controlling the reins of a horse? </nonrider>

[mattc]

Maybe equestrianism gave us "fed up" too?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Those horses are fed up of getting their oats!

[Peter]

@ Matt

re ETA, I was trying to be computer-speak savvy (which I'm not, and which is why I post on this board!) and understood it to mean "Edited To Add", though I know the acronyms for Estimated Time (of) Arrival and the Basque one.

That reins business makes sense.

[Gareth Rees]

Doesn't pull up come from controlling the reins of a horse? </nonrider>

Yes, pull up in the sense of "stop" originally referred to controlling horses:

to pull up 3. a. trans. To draw (a horse's reins) tight, as a means of stopping; to cause (a horse, or horse-drawn vehicle) to stop by doing this; to bring to a halt.

But the earliest citation in the OED refers to pulling up a coach, so it looks as though the phrase was applied to vehicles from the start:

1623 in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) II. 392   A man, thinking nothing, pulled up his coach, and so made the horse start a little.

[Mr Larrington]

Maybe equestrianism gave us "fed up" too?

"Fed up" comes from falconry.  If your hunting bird isn't hungry, it'll sit sulking in a tree-top rather than chasing rabbits.

[Nuncio]

Phrasal verbs are mostly nonsensical.

Which, together with the huge range of them, must make them a nightmare for non-native learners.  You can fill in or fill out a form but probably not fill up one or just fill one; whereas you can just print a document if you're being economical, rather than going to the effort of printing it out or off.  Hitting on an idea and hitting on a person are quite different, and if you hit on someone you may be lucky enough to hit it off with him/her as well. Etc etc.  How do foreigners manage?

[mattc]

Cover off.

Where the heck did that come from? I'm not even sure what it means.

[Gareth Rees]

"Fed up" comes from falconry.  If your hunting bird isn't hungry, it'll sit sulking in a tree-top rather than chasing rabbits.

Bluff!

[Ian H]

While we're on (not in) the subject: how come we might do something on Tuesday but in July?

Also, what's the opposite of putting on [clothes]? And why?

[Mr Larrington]

"Fed up" comes from falconry.  If your hunting bird isn't hungry, it'll sit sulking in a tree-top rather than chasing rabbits.

Bluff!

I read it in Last Chance To See by Douglas Adams and Mark Wotsisname.  And they wouldn't tell porkies in a (comparatively) serious bok

[Peter]

While we're on (not in) the subject: how come we might do something on Tuesday but in July?

Also, what's the opposite of putting on [clothes]? And why?

Just guessing here, but in July because of a choice of days but that still doesn't explain on Tuesday.

Don and Doff for clothes, is quite good, though most people DON't use them.  I like to think D(uds)on  and D(uds)off but I bet it's nothing to do with it.  Whatever is right, mine's better, ok?

[Ian H]

Headline in local paper, Pulman's View: "Pair is freed from a lift".

[drossall]

Just guessing here, but in July because of a choice of days but that still doesn't explain on Tuesday.

There needs to be some preposition there, and it's consistent with other usages.

I'll do it on Tuesday.

I'll do it on the second day of the week.

I'll do it on your command.

I'll start on the whistle.

In some of those cases, I suppose that "at" would also be acceptable.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think prepositions are mostly random once they get away from their literal "place" meanings. If you're wondering why we say "in July" and "on Tuesday" think about this: in Polish you go "to" a town but "on" a village!

[Simonb]

I think prepositions are mostly random once they get away from their literal "place" meanings.

Exactly, but English is (I think) unique in coupling them with certain verbs to make new and random meanings for no apparent reason. Unfortunately for forriners, they just have to be learned. Or ignored.

[Peter]

Headline in local paper, Pulman's View: "Pair is freed from a lift".

I would have thought that was correct, strictly speaking, as "pair" is a collective noun and it is [ia[/i] pair.  But usage has "pair are freed" more often than not, though I think it really creaks if you say "a pair are freed".

[drossall]

There is a difference in usage however from other such nouns.

One should definitely say:

"A type of bicycle"

"Two types of bicycle"
(not "bicycles"; talking about types implies plurality even with only one immediate example, and it's the number of types here present that is increasing.)

Whereas with pair the plural is always used: "A pair of bicycles".

[Nuncio]

Also, what's the opposite of putting on [clothes]? And why?

I don't know the answer to that. I do know that I'm supposed to go to a naturist meeting tonight but I can't go because I've got too much on.

[trixie]

Also, what's the opposite of putting on [clothes]? And why?

I don't know the answer to that. I do know that I'm supposed to go to a naturist meeting tonight but I can't go because I've got too much on.

Haha, very good! 

[Ian H]

Also, what's the opposite of putting on [clothes]? And why?

I don't know the answer to that. I do know that I'm supposed to go to a naturist meeting tonight but I can't go because I've got too much on.

The ambiguity allows a choice between putting it off and taking it off. Which will you do?

[Nuncio]

Neither.  I've decided to go with my clothes on and risk a dressing down.

[mattc]

I think prepositions are mostly random once they get away from their literal "place" meanings.

Exactly, but English is (I think) unique in coupling them with certain verbs to make new and random meanings for no apparent reason. Unfortunately for forriners, they just have to be learned. Or ignored.

I'm an utter novice, but German makes it even harder, cos the noun changes case according to the preposition (accusative/dative I think). So it's swings and roundabouts.

They also do strange things with going/coming "to/from a place", but I can't remember the details right now (and I'd likely get them wrong). A bit like the Polish:

... in Polish you go "to" a town but "on" a village!

p.s. I'm only allowing Nuncio to end a sentence with a preposition because of the famous police/toilet precedent.