up and died

[tanuki]

Hello!

In another thread, Mike Cash mentioned this structure in a sentence: "My dog up and died."

I had never seen that structure and I don't know how I can look for it in da internetz, so I decided to ask you guys.

Is this structure slangish, is it a regionalism? Can it be used with any verb? Is it a direct equivalent of the structure "xxx-ed on me"?

For example: "I was explaining the plan to him but he was so tired that he up and fell asleep."

Thanks in advance!

[richvh]

I'd say it's colloquial and rather uncultured; I think it's most often combined with the "-ed on me" structure, like so:
"He up and fell asleep on me."

[Oracle]

I've heard it here in Australia too, so if it is regional the two regions are pretty far apart! I think there are a few common verbs which tend to be used in the "up and x" pattern. The ones that come to mind are:
'up and died', 'up and left', 'up and disappeared'
Now I write them out they seem to all about someone leaving, so "up and fell asleep" sounds a bit unusual to me, but could be ok in the right context

[clay]

I am not sure, but I think 'up and died' is the only usage that sounds 'normal'.

As Mr. Bojangles sang:

His dog up and died, yes he up and died. After twenty years he still grieved. Mr. Bojangles...

EDIT: I take that back. In Fowler's Modern English Usage it has this under 'up and + verb':

Followed by a verb, up and means 'do (something) suddenly or unexpectedly' (he just upped and vanished; she upped and married her cousin; suddenly the division ups and marches to Aldershot). This use is first recorded in R. L. Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883): And you have the Davy Jones's insolence to up and stand for cap'n over me!

[Mike Cash]

clay wrote:
I am not sure, but I think 'up and died' is the only usage that sounds 'normal'.

As Mr. Bojangles sang:

His dog up and died, yes he up and died. After twenty years he still grieved. Mr. Bojangles...

And I suspect the song is the primary reason it sounds normal to you.

[lalaith]

From the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage:

"Some usage books and schoolbooks view the phrase up and with the same distaste they direct at take and, go and and try and (which see). Up and is no bucolic idiom redolent of our frontier past, however; it is current on both sides of the Atlantic, and is used in general publications, often by writers of more than ordinary sophistication. It, too, is not highly informal.

...a young woman had upped and offed with the family chauffeur -- Dr James Hemming, Good Housekeeping (London) Feb 1976

You up and run away from home -- Alan Coren, Punch, 12 March 1975

...suddenly upped and won three more major championships -- Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated, 19 Sept. 1983

...I think all biographers subconsciously hope their man will up and die, clearing the boards and making everything a whole lot simpler -- E.B. White, letter, 20 Sept. 1968

[Tspoonami]

I think this phrase is more likely to be used in the 'South' of the US. I am not sure if they use it in the North, but it's a very country-sounding thing (I think). I've also heard it in England. When I think of the phrase, I hear it in my head as in either a British accent or a Southern accent.

Maybe that's just me.

Also, I think 'up and died' is more common than 'up and (any other verb).' It's almost like a cliche.

[coco]

ご説明ありがとうございます。

Oracle wrote:
I think there are a few common verbs which tend to be used in the "up and x" pattern. The ones that come to mind are:
'up and died', 'up and left', 'up and disappeared'
Now I write them out they seem to all about someone leaving,

'up and died', 'up and left', 'up and disappeared' は
「逝っちゃった」「行っちゃった」「消えちゃった」に近い阜ｻですか?
「逝っちまった」「行っちまった」「消えちまった」 ?

元スレッド

[trabia-wind]

i think it might be a more southern thing too? i'm not sure, but i don't think i've heard anyone use it here (i live near chicago)

[mamba]

well i never knew such thing was used until i remembered back when i was a kid watching a cartoon called "Atom Ant."

Everytime there was a bad guy, he'd shout "up and atom, atom ant!"

[Tspoonami]

mamba wrote:
well i never knew such thing was used until i remembered back when i was a kid watching a cartoon called "Atom Ant."

Everytime there was a bad guy, he'd shout "up and atom, atom ant!"

'Up and atom" sounds the same in speech as 'up and at them,' which is a somewhat common phrase.

(This explanation is for those learning English, mostly.)

[HeyItsMatt]

Tspoonami wrote:
I think this phrase is more likely to be used in the 'South' of the US. I am not sure if they use it in the North, but it's a very country-sounding thing (I think). I've also heard it in England. When I think of the phrase, I hear it in my head as in either a British accent or a Southern accent.

Maybe that's just me.

Also, I think 'up and died' is more common than 'up and (any other verb).' It's almost like a cliche.

I agree. When I hear the phrase it sounds vaguely southern to me. It's funny, I think I've used it before and so I was thinking "well, southerners can't be the ONLY ones who say it" but then realized I've lived in Virginia for 10 years. I guess living on a college campus makes me forget where I am sometimes.

[lalaith]

Before people like Tanuki start thinking this is a strictly a Southern usage, let me point out that there is nothing inherently Southern about the quotes from the Miriam-Webster's DoEU that I included. E.B. White was a New Yorker. Good Housekeeping and Sports Illustrated are national magazines. And Punch is a British magazine.

[tanuki]

Thank you all for your input. I see there are different reactions to this structure.

By the way, many of the examples you people gave also conjugate the "up" itself.

She upped and married her cousin. instead of She up and married her cousin.

What are your thoughts on this?


EDIT: Grammar.

[HeyItsMatt]

tanuki wrote:
Thank you all for your input. I see there are different reactions to this structure.

By the way, many of the examples you people gave also conjugates the "up" itself.

She upped and married her cousin. instead of She up and married her cousin.

What are your thoughts on this?

I have heard people use "up and died" before, but not "upped and died". But then again, clay and lalaith posted what look like more literary examples of the structure "upped and XXX". Perhaps "up and died" is even more colloquial and/or southern. I'm not really sure.