My get up and go got up and went

[kat2006]

Hi,

I was surfing the Internet and came accross a phrase saying "My get up and go got up and went". I think it is interesting but I just can't understand the meaning of "got up". Shouldn't "got up" mean "got higher"? Why isn't it "got down"?

Thanks in advance.

[bhaisahab]

Hi,

I was surfing the Internet and came accross a phrase saying "My get up and go got up and went". I think it is interesting but I just can't understand the meaning of "got up". Shouldn't "got up" mean "got higher"? Why isn't it "got down"?

Thanks in advance.

"Get up" can mean to rise from a sitting position, to get out of bed etcetera
Does that help you to understand?.

[Tdol]

Yes, it's as it got out of its chair wand walked out on him.

[emsr2d2]

Your "get up and go" is a euphemism for "energy". If you have a lot of get up and go, you are energetic, you feel as if you could get up from your chair or bed or sofa and go and do something.

Sometimes people wake up feeling full of "get up and go" but then they don't do anything with it - they just sit in front of the television and vegetate. Then, later in the day, when they really want to do something they realise that now they don't feel so energetic.

Their "get up and go" has left. It "got up and went". It isn't there any more.

"To get up" is a phrasal verb which can mean "to get out of bed", "to rise from a sitting position", "to rise from a laying position", "to raise [money]" (I managed to get up enough money to fly to Spain).

In the first part of the phrase "get up" is used as a noun and in the second part of the phrase "got up" is a verb.

[kat2006]

Thank you all for answering my question. Now I got it.

Thank you emsr2d2 for typing so much to give me such a detailed explanation. I really appreciate it.

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=kat2006;819784]Hi,

"My get up and go got up and went".



NOT A TEACHER


(1) Teacher EMSR gave us an excellent explanation, as usual.

(2) I just wanted to respectfully remind you that the expression is used in a humorous

manner. Therefore, if you say it to native speakers, do not be astonished or

embarrassed if they laugh. They will be laughing with you, not at you.

(3) It sounds humorous because "got" is the past tense of "get" and "went" is the

past tense of "go." Put them together and you get a "funny."

(4) If you are speaking in a serious manner, do not use that expression. If your professor

or manager asks you why you seem to be so tired recently, you could say something

like: "I don't know what the problem is. I seem to have lost a lot of my energy and

motivation recently."