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notletrest

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Can w e say :" He burned up for my rudeniss.," according to a dictionary explanation to the phrase "become or make angry" ? But I haven;t found any examples like this .
Thanks a lot!
 

Frank Antonson

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"He got fired up because of my rudeness."

is the way I would say that. "Burned", though, can mean injured or insulted.
 

billmcd

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Can w e say :" He burned up for my rudeniss.," according to a dictionary explanation to the phrase "become or make angry" ? But I haven;t found any examples like this .
Thanks a lot!

"Burned up" is a common expression in AmE and means as your dictionary states. So, to use the phrase as in your post you should prefix the phrase with "got" i.e. "got burned up".
 

notletrest

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"Burned up" is a common expression in AmE and means as your dictionary states. So, to use the phrase as in your post you should prefix the phrase with "got" i.e. "got burned up".
1). Just as you and Frank Antonson said ,before burned should add got, my trouble is about the dictionary's explanation. It says "become angry", in essence, become is an intransitive verb, we can use it intransitively, for example, "The sun rises.", so I said "He burned up..." Is my inference right?
2). " fire ,v.i. ... fire up : (a) to start a fire in a furnace,stove, etc; (b) to become irritated or angry," The above is quoted from a Webster's Dictionary. About (a,b) ,I would like you to give me each an example, in which fire should be an intransitive verb. If you couldn't do, can it indicate the dictionary is wrong here?
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billmcd

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1). Just as you and Frank Antonson said ,before burned should add got, my trouble is about the dictionary's explanation. It says "become angry", in essence, become is an intransitive verb, we can use it intransitively, for example, "The sun rises.", so I said "He burned up..." Is my inference right?

No, if you say "he burned up", the listener would think that the person was literally on fire. With "he got burned up", "burned up" is actually a phrasal verb, but used as an adjective, just as in "He applied for the job, but got turned down."

2). " fire ,v.i. ... fire up : (a) to start a fire in a furnace,stove, etc; (b) to become irritated or angry," OR (c) to become excited or enthusiastic The above is quoted from a Webster's Dictionary. About (a,b) ,I would like you to give me each an example, in which fire should be an intransitive verb. If you couldn't do, can it indicate the dictionary is wrong here? He fired up (phrasal verb as a verb) the furnace./He got fired up about the speech (phrasal verb as an adjective).

Thank you both!

See above. As in the expression "don't mix apples and oranges", don't mix the roles of certain parts of speech. Just as gerunds look like verbs but act like nouns.
 
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notletrest

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See above. As in the expression "don't mix apples and oranges", don't mix the roles of certain parts of speech. Just as gerunds look like verbs but act like nouns.
I enjoy your detailed explanation. But please read:
"fire up 1.start a fire in a furnace (vt) ; I fired the furnace with firwood last winter.
2. become suddenly angry (vi) ; She fires up a lot; she's a short tempered woman."
The above I quoted from a Chinese book. Which ,either the Chinese book or the Webster's, is right?
Thank you very much!
 

Curt Jugg

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You may be interested to know that the Oxford English Dictionary gives two quotations from the 19th century illustrating the use of "fire up" as an intransitive verb:

If I were to hear any body speak slightingly of you, I should fire up in a moment. (Jane Austen)

and

She fired up at the arrogance of the squire. (W Irving)

I have not come across this usage in more modern (British) English but I don't know about American usage.
 

billmcd

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You may be interested to know that the Oxford English Dictionary gives two quotations from the 19th century illustrating the use of "fire up" as an intransitive verb:

If I were to hear any body speak slightingly of you, I should fire up in a moment. (Jane Austen)

and

She fired up at the arrogance of the squire. (W Irving)

I have not come across this usage in more modern (British) English but I don't know about American usage.

Yes. You would seldom, if ever, hear the expression used that way in AmE. But it is more likely to read it in a novel.
 

billmcd

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I enjoy your detailed explanation. But please read:
"fire up 1.start a fire in a furnace (vt) ; I fired the furnace with firwood last winter.
2. become suddenly angry (vi) ; She fires up a lot; she's a short tempered woman."
The above I quoted from a Chinese book. Which ,either the Chinese book or the Webster's, is right?
Thank you very much!

Please see Curt Jugg's post and my addendum to his post. With all due respect to the authors of the Chinese book, in AmE you would seldom/never hear that a person "fires up". Rather, "gets fired up" is a more common expression in AmE. And perhaps to make it more confusing, to get fired up has yet another more common meaning in AmE. It means to become energetic or enthusiastic. For example, "Everyone is fired up about the new advertising campaign." OR "The coach told his team to get fired up for the big game next week."
 

notletrest

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You may be interested to know that the Oxford English Dictionary gives two quotations from the 19th century illustrating the use of "fire up" as an intransitive verb:

If I were to hear any body speak slightingly of you, I should fire up in a moment. (Jane Austen)

and

She fired up at the arrogance of the squire. (W Irving)

I have not come across this usage in more modern (British) English but I don't know about American usage.
Thank you for your examples for OED..But in my Concise Oxford Dictionary there are no such ones.
 

notletrest

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Please see Curt Jugg's post and my addendum to his post. With all due respect to the authors of the Chinese book, in AmE you would seldom/never hear that a person "fires up". Rather, "gets fired up" is a more common expression in AmE. And perhaps to make it more confusing, to get fired up has yet another more common meaning in AmE. It means to become energetic or enthusiastic. For example, "Everyone is fired up about the new advertising campaign." OR "The coach told his team to get fired up for the big game next week."
I understand you ,thanks!

" 2). " fire ,v.i. ... fire up : (a) to start a fire in a furnace,stove, etc; (b) to become irritated or angry," OR (c) to become excited or enthusiastic The above is quoted from a Webster's Dictionary. About (a,b) ,I would like you to give me each an example, in which fire should be an intransitive verb. If you couldn't do, can it indicate the dictionary is wrong here? He fired up (phrasal verb as a verb) the furnace./He got fired up about the speech (phrasal verb as an adjective). "

In your first example He fired up (phrasal verb as a verb) the furnace./, the fire up as a verb is a transtive verb.obviously. In your second one "fired up" is not an intransitive verb,either. How to understand its above "fire v.i. ",is my another problem.
Thank you very much!
 

notletrest

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You may be interested to know that the Oxford English Dictionary gives two quotations from the 19th century illustrating the use of "fire up" as an intransitive verb:

If I were to hear any body speak slightingly of you, I should fire up in a moment. (Jane Austen)

and

She fired up at the arrogance of the squire. (W Irving)

I have not come across this usage in more modern (British) English but I don't know about American usage.
I enjoy your 3 precious examples about to fire up. I am eager to know how you get them,online or from your own OED.Could you tell me how online I can find them?
As a Chinese saying goes ,it is better to teach a man some fishing than to give him some fish. Thank you very much!
 

BobK

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You may be interested to know that the Oxford English Dictionary gives two quotations from the 19th century illustrating the use of "fire up" as an intransitive verb:

If I were to hear any body speak slightingly of you, I should fire up in a moment. (Jane Austen)

and

She fired up at the arrogance of the squire. (W Irving)

I have not come across this usage in more modern (British) English but I don't know about American usage.

In both those cases someone blushed. The reason for the blushing may have involved anger.

Incidentally, Br Eng - in my experience - doesn't use 'burn up' in the sense of get angry; though a situation can 'flare up'. On the subject of burning, we do have the metaphor 'incandescent' (meaning 'very angry'/'livid'), and also 'burning with rage'.

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He felt burned by my rudeness.
 

Hedwig

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I enjoy your 3 precious examples about to fire up. I am eager to know how you get them,online or from your own OED.Could you tell me how online I can find them?
As a Chinese saying goes ,it is better to teach a man some fishing than to give him some fish. Thank you very much!

I'm afraid you cannot consult the OED online unless you subscribe for a fee. There's a free trial period, though. www.oed.com
There's the Oxford Advanced Learner's for free at www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com . And if you google up 'dictionary' you'll find a great many good dictionaries.
 

britintheUS

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To "burn up" with anger is what first comes to mind. It's as if someone is so mad that they are heated like flames :)

In the southern states of the US, it is also used to say that someone is hot, temperature wise, or a room is hot.

"It's so hot in here, I'm about to burn up"
 
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