"up to" redux

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Adrian Bailey - 26 Jan 2007 21:11 GMT

Huge sign outside Lidl supermarket:
ALL FROZEN PRODUCTS
up to
HALF PRICE

Lead item on radio news:
"John Smith is facing up to life in a wheelchair"

Adrian

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cybercypher - 27 Jan 2007 02:25 GMT

> Huge sign outside Lidl supermarket:
> ALL FROZEN PRODUCTS
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Lead item on radio news:
> "John Smith is facing up to life in a wheelchair"

Two different entities, Adrian. The first is a compound preposition:
"up to"; the second is a phrasal verb: "face up".

W3NID:
[quote]
Main Entry: face up
Function: intransitive verb

: to confront or meet something or someone especially boldly *he faced
up and considered his situation* usually used with 'to' *finally
faces up to the young hoods terrorizing these subway riders A.H.Weiler*
[/quote]

I would not have used this particular verb in this particular sentence,
though: "facing life" would have been sufficient.

There's nothing at all strange about either usage. I see the first
expressed as "~50%" in science papers all the time. But I think the
second is verbose.

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TakenEvent - 27 Jan 2007 08:05 GMT

> > Huge sign outside Lidl supermarket:
> > ALL FROZEN PRODUCTS
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> expressed as "~50%" in science papers all the time. But I think the
> second is verbose.

No, the second example really needs more context. If Mr. Smith was coming
to terms with having to spend his life in a wheelchair, I'd agree with you,
although I'd also rewrite the sentence because that's an iffy usage of "face
up to" in my book.

If Mr. Smith was in an accident, and his prognosis was that walking again
was uncertain, then the sentence-in-question indicates that he could be
wheelchair-bound for a period of time "up to" the rest of his life, with "up
to" indicating that it could be a shorter period of time. This is the way I
understood the sentence.

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cybercypher - 27 Jan 2007 07:35 GMT

> "cybercypher" <dontbother@easypeasy.com> wrote
>>
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> No, the second example really needs more context.

Yes, for clarity, you're right.

> If Mr. Smith
> was coming to terms with having to spend his life in a wheelchair,
> I'd agree with you, although I'd also rewrite the sentence because
> that's an iffy usage of "face up to" in my book.

Agreed.

> If Mr. Smith was in an accident, and his prognosis was that
> walking again was uncertain, then the sentence-in-question
> indicates that he could be wheelchair-bound for a period of time
> "up to" the rest of his life, with "up to" indicating that it
> could be a shorter period of time. This is the way I understood
> the sentence.

I agree that your interpretation is reasonable, but only because the
sentence as Adrian provided it is ambiguous. The verb phrase "facing
up to" can mean either simply "confronting" or "coming to terms
with". We don't know what the radio headline really means.

I also agree that it's an iffy usage because of the ambiguity. I'd've
said "John Smith may face life in a wheelchair". OTOH, I don't think
that headline writers are concerned about ambiguity. In fact, the
more ambiguous a headline is, the greater the chance the reader or,
in this case, listener will follow the story: just to clear up the
ambiguity.

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

"up to" redux