On Fri, 2002-09-06 at 16:46, Elliott Martin wrote: > The reason its sounds screwy to the non-english speakers, and alright to > the english, but totally screwed to the americans, is because of the up on > the end. "Is close to full up" vs "Is close to full". I can't remember > exactly what that's called, but there's a name for that type of > grammatical error.
*sigh* it's NOT a grammatical error. It's merely a UK English idiomatic usage. It appears the formation "full up" is common in UK English but seemingly non-existent in US English, which surprises me - it's not a difference noted on the classic lists of UK/US differences. But I assure you, come to England and say "my bag's full up", "that bus is full up" or "my glass is nearly full up" and no-one will bat an eyelid. (Is *that* a UK phrase too? :>) -- adamw
