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The long-neglected phrasal verb

Tom McArthur

English Today / Volume 5 / Issue 02 / April 1989, pp 38 - 44

DOI: 10.1017/S026607840000393X, Published online: 17 October 2008

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S026607840000393X

How to cite this article:

Tom McArthur (1989). The long-neglected phrasal verb. English Today, 5, pp 38-44 doi:10.1017/
S026607840000393X

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The long-neglected
phrasal verb
TOM McARTHUR
In the description of such usages as argue
away, measure up and zonk out, a
venerable orphan comes in from the
linguistic cold

'THERE is another kind of composition,' break off, to stop abruptly; to bear out, to
wrote Samuel Johnson in 1755, 'more fre- justify; to fall in, to comply; to give over, to
quent in our language than perhaps in any cease; to set off, to embellish; to set in, to
other, from which arises to foreigners the begin a continual tenour; to set out, to begin a
greatest difficulty.' course or journey; to take off, to copy; with
Dr Johnson had no name for it. Indeed, the innumerable expressions of the same kind, of
kind of 'composition' (nowadays he would which some appear wildly irregular, being so
probably have said 'compound') has had no far distant from the sense of the simple
agreed academic name for the best part of a words, that no sagacity will be able to trace
thousand years yet has throughout those the steps by which they arrived at the present
years been a vigorous part of English. It has, use.'
however, been a plebeian kind of vigour, He made these comments in the preface to
used by scholars when translating the Lati- his Dictionary of the English Language. What
nate into common parlance (where ascend is he said about phrasal verbs is still true, except
'go up' and descend is 'go down'), but other- that nowadays they stand out more because
wise confined to the fringes of grammatical there are even more of them about in the 20th
description. than in the 18th century.
In this century, Johnson's 'kind of compo-
sition' has been called a verb phrase, a com-
pound verb, a two-part (and sometimes TOM McARTHUR was born in Glasgow in 1938.
three-part) verb, and a phrasal verb, the last of A graduate of both Glasgow and Edinburgh
which appears now, in the 1980s, to be the universities, he has been in turn an officer-instructor in
winning term. But even so it is hardly well the British Army, a school-teacher in the Midlands of
known beyond the immediate circle of lin- England, Head of English at the Cathedral School,
guists and language teachers. Indeed, many Bombay, organizer of courses for overseas students at
teachers of English do not yet know it well or the University of Edinburgh, and associate professor
know it at all, especially those who teach of English at the Universite du Quebec. He has
mother-tongue students as opposed to foreign written for The Birmingham Mail, The Times of
India, and The Scotsman. His publications include
learners. the 'Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English,'
'We modify the signification of many 'A Foundation Course for Language Teachers,'
words,' Johnson went on, 'by a particle sub- 'The Written Word', the co-editing of'Languages of
joined; as to come off, to escape by a fetch; to Scotland', and 'Worlds of Reference'. He is married
fall on, to attack; to fall off, to apostatize; to with three children.

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style of verb and particle easy to handle,
Grammar and history because in the classical languages the equiva-
Most phrasal verbs are made up of a monosyl- lent particles are prefixes. They attach like
labic verb of movement like go, come or take leaves to the stems of verbs (go down being in
and an adverbial particle of location or direc- Latin de + scendere). The vernacular verb
tion such as up and down, in and out, on and forms therefore did not conform (or fit in)
off. In many cases, one verb takes several and grammarians therefore tended to omit
such particles, as with the egregious get up, them (or leave them out).
get down, get in, get out, get on, get off, get Nonetheless, the phrasal verb is as much a
away, get back, etc. In combination, such part of grammar and word-formation as the
verbs may be: complex sentence, the compound word, the
O conventional and literal, in which case the subordinate clause, or the prefix. Its syntax
whole is the sum of the parts: 'They were all and lexicology are a crucial part of English:
in the house and when we arrived their leader 1 Word order. Phrasal verbs may be (1)
came out.' intransitive, as in 'When they went away, she
O idiomatic and figurative, in which case the got up and went out or (2) transitive, as in 'She
whole is more than or different from the sum put the book down, then picked it up again'). If
of the parts: 'They were all in the house and the verb is transitive, the particle usually goes
when we arrived the truth came out.' before or after a noun object without affecting
Such verb forms are vernacular and Ger- meaning: She put the book down and She put
manic. Because they have for centuries been down the book convey the same message. If,
part of that 'plain' foundation underneath the however, the object is a pronoun, it comes
French and Latin superstructures of the lan- between verb and particle: She put it down,
guage, they have attracted little attention not She put down it, although younger chil-
among classically-inspired grammarians. dren may be heard saying this, and adults also
Lexicographers like Johnson have been more do it on rare occasions, for emphasis.
interested in them, but only marginally so. As 2 Adverbial arid prepositional particles.
a result, this linguistic orphan has waited Commonly, a sentence containing a verb fol-
until the later 20th century for adequate lowed by a prepositional phrase can be
coverage in grammar book and dictionary. reduced elliptically, turning the preposition
In the Oxford English Dictionary, informa- into an adverb. In this way, 'He carried the
tion about phrasal verbs is provided under box up the stairs' becomes 'He carried the box
their primary verbs, ample evidence of their up' (stairs understood). When a further prep-
presence long before modern English. They ositional phrase is added, two particles (the
have been widespread since at least the Mid- first adverbial, the second prepositional)
dle Ages. Thus, typical antique usages with occur in sequence: He carried the box up to his
go are: (1) in Wyclifs Bible of 1388, 'Thei, room.
that gon doun in to the see in schippes', and The particles appear to operate inconsis-
(2) in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure of tently in relation to such compound preposi-
1603, 'So long, that nineteene Zodiacks have tions as (1) into, (2) out of, (3) British English
gone round". on to, American English onto, and (4) the
Used both literally and figuratively, phrasal controversial off of, which is non-standard in
verbs are acquired early by native-speaking BrE and often standard in AmE. However,
children - but late, if ever, by foreign when sentences are reduced elliptically, the
learners. Such learners often regard them (or results are comparable in all cases: 'She took
have been encouraged by their teachers to the box into the room', 'She took the book out
regard them) as innumerable, irritating 'verb of the room', 'She lifted the books on tolonto the
idioms' that have to be learned one at a time. table', and 'She lifted the books off (of) the
There are many such idioms, but the idea that table all reduce to 'She took the books in/ouf,
phrasal verbs are only such idioms arises not 'She lifted the books ml off. The particle out
so much from the language itself as how it has is always followed in the standard usage of
been described by grammarians. Their gener- England by of, in such sentences as 'They
ally fine and flexible descriptions of the lan- looked out of the window, but in Scotland and
guage, largely based on classical models of North America need not be: 'They looked out
Greek and Latin, have not found the open the window'. Again, however, none of this

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affects phrasal verbs proper: 'They looked up!', which is both completive and emphatic.
out.' Such verbs are often informal, emotive,
3 The adverbial particles. A large number and slangy, and, as was suggested above, they
of such particles typically occur in phrasal often contrast with Latinate verbs, as with:
verbs. They are: aback, about, ahead, along,
apart, aside, around, away, back, backward(s), I used up all the fuel. more familiar
beyond, by, down, downward(s), forth, for- consumed moreformal
ward(s), in, inward(s), off, on, onward(s), out, They gathered together in the hall.
outward(s), over, past, round, sideways, assembled/congregated
through, to and fro, up, upward(s). The com-
monest are down, in, off, on, out, up. There is The soldiers moved forward,
advanced.
some variation in the uses of about and
(a)round in AmE and BrE, Britons evidently There are many such synonymic parallels:
favouring about, as in running about, North putting off a meeting and postponing it, driving
Americans favouring (a)round, as in running back enemy forces and repelling them, putting
around. In addition, there are several items out afireand extinguishing it, bringing back the
which operate to some extent like particles. death penalty and restoring it. By and large,
They include home, open, and shut as in 'He the phrasal-verb synonyms will dominate in
forced the door open/forced open the door' and casual usage (especially conversation) and the
'She hammered the nail home/hammered home Latinate synonyms in formal usage (espec-
the nail'. ially making reports). Again, as suggested
above, the elements of phrasal verbs can
The uses of phrasal verbs sometimes be 'translated' into the elements of
Latinate verbs part for part, as in:
Since a phrasal verb basically relates to move-
ment and position, a verb-particle combina- throw out slow dow
tion may have (1) any of the meanings of the
verb plus any of the meanings of the particle, 'ject de/celerate
(2) any meanings that emerge from such a However, such correspondences are by no
union for particular purposes in particular means always straightforward. The verb bring
contexts, and (3) the capacity to drift from 1 in, for example, is used literally in 'The
to 2 and back again, a literal use carrying a milkman brought in the milk' but is figurative
figurative nuance and vice versa, especially in in 'The prime minister brought in a new
jokes. policy'. It is only in this second sense that
The range of possibilities is shown in get bring in parallels introduce. The idea of the
up. This phrasal verb is intransitive in 'They milkman introducing the milk is not only
got up', transitive in 'Get them up', means bizarre ('Milk, meet Mr Smith'), but shows
from lower to higher in 'He got the child up how jokes are often made (and cartoons based
on to the wall', means from far to near in on) a deliberate confusion of phrasal-verb
'One of the other runners got up to him and meanings. Famously, someone can say 'Put
passed him', means accumulate under pres- the kettle on' (i.e. 'Heat some water in a kettle
sure in 'The engine got up steam', organize or for tea'), then add with appreciation, 'Mmm,
make in 'He can get up the plot of a new film it suits you' (shifting to the sense of putting
in no time at all', and put on special clothes in clothes on).
'They got themselves up as pirates'.
The particle up, used variously with differ-
ent verbs, can mean upward direction in 'The Forming new phrasal verbs
smoke rose up', approaching direction in 'He In addition to the majority of verbs of move-
swam up to the boat', completion in the sense ment with their particles, phrasal verbs are
that nothing is left in 'They used up all the regularly formed from three other sources:
oil', completion in the sense that something is 1 From adjectives Here, derivation is from
done as fully as possible in 'They tidied the adjectives which can take the suffix -en, to
room up', literal emphasis in 'Hurry up!', and produce sets like fresh, freshen, freshen up and
metaphoric emphasis in 'Shut up!'. It may flat, flatten, flatten down, and those which
have several nuances at once, as in 'Drink cannot, producing sets like calm, calm down

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and warm, warm up. Some can be both, as in contrasts are layout and outlay, and lookout
damp, dampen, dampen down and damp, damp and outlook. As with the verbs, the nouns can
down, with possible small differences in run informally parallel to formal Latinate
regional distribution and precise meaning. nouns, to produce such pairs as checkup and
2 From nouns Here, a phrase containing a examination, letdown and disappointment,
regular phrasal verb and a special noun is let-up and relaxation, sellout and betrayal, and
telescoped into a new phrasal verb, as with shake-up and re-organization.
'close in with a wall' becoming wall in and Like other nouns, those that are derived
'lead off by means of a channel' becoming from phrasal verbs occur in compound for-
channel off. Many phrasal verbs have emerged mations, either with the phrasal noun first, as
in this way: bed down, board up, button up, in breakdown service and overflow pipe or with
dish out, fog up, gang up, iron out, jack up, mist the phrasal noun second, as with cholera
up, saddle up, and sponge down. outbreak and student sit-in. Just as easily, the
3 From Latinate verbs. Here, particles are phrasal noun can appear flanked by other
added as completives or for emphasis to nouns, as in cattle round-up time and popula-
typical two- and three-syllable Latinate tion overspill problem.
verbs, as with contract out, divide off/up, level
off, measure off/out, select out, separate off/out.
Some people regard such usages as pleonas- The idioms
tic, and avoid them or disparage them, but These are generally common, complex, collo-
this does not prevent them from being widely quial and informal. They are also mostly
employed. figurative extensions, of a more or less
In addition, two kinds of noun are com- obvious kind, of the basic uses of verbs. For
monly formed from phrasal verbs. example, ironing out problems is not far
(1) The commoner form involves only a removed from ironing out creases in a shirt.
stress shift from the level stress of the verb The common verbs have the most idioms: be,
break down to the compound-like stress of the come, do, get, go, keep, make, move, pass, pull,
noun BREAKdown. When written, such put, run, set, take, turn. Typical idiomatic
nouns are usually either solid as in breakdown usages for the verbs bring and come are:
or hyphenated as in break-down. The solid Revolutionaries can bring down or defeat a
spelling is common once a usage has been government, then bring in or introduce new
firmly established, especially in North Amer- laws, bring off or clinch deals with foreign
ica. Hyphenation is common, especially in countries, bringing on or creating new prob-
British English, and is preferred by many lems, while journalists bring up or raise awk-
where a solid form is seen as bizarre (in ward questions about the revolution and later
particular when two vowels come together). bring out or publish books about it. In the new
Thus, cave-in spelled cavein might suggest dispensation, things may come apart or distin-
not a verb from 'cave' but a substance like tegrate, some people coming out of the
protein, and makeup can look as exotic as upheaval worse off, some better off, their
wickiup. However, there appears to be a great deals coming off or succeeding, their work
deal of inconsistency and uncertainty in the coming on or improving, soldiers coming
matter. Common nouns of this type are black- through or surviving, and something new
out, break-up, getaway, get-together, hold-up, always coming up or happening.
mix-up, sit-in, and take-off. Having fun with phrasal verbs is quite
(2) The less common form also employs a common among stylists, as for example this
stress shift, but this time accompanying word excerpt from Fritz Spiegl, The Joy of Words
reversal, so that when a disease breaks out (1986):
there is an OUTbreak of that disease. Typical
nouns of this type are input, onrush, outflow, 'Years ago, calling on a schoolfriend, I would
overspill, throughput, upkeep, and upsurge, one day be told by his mother'He's not up yet',
and the next day, 'He's not down yet': both
almost always written as solid forms. meaning he had slept in. Later on he took to
These contrasting patterns can lead to two sleeping out, and, later still, to sleeping around
distinct nouns from one verb, as with a (which has little or nothing to do with sleeping)
breakout (usually of people) and an outbreak and playing up his mum something dreadful. She
(usually of disease or trouble). Other such was not only fed up but felt put out when he was

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put up by the girlfriends whom he would often The issue is further complicated by occa-
look up. But when he got home she laid into him sions when the fusion occurs between a phra-
with a firm put-down. I used to meet (now people sal verb proper and a following preposition,
say meet up with) him in town. We would perhaps as with look down on someone (hold that
live it up one day and not live it down for weeks. person in contempt). Such usages include:
(He was later sent down from Oxford for sending check up on (investigate), go along with
his professor up.) We hoped that getting on with a
girl might lead to getting off with her (i.e. from (accept), face up to (confront), look back on
hitting it off to having it off) unless, of course, she (recall), look forward to (anticipate in a posi-
told one where to get off. Though agairi; you might tive way), look up to (admire), and meet up
invite a bus-conductress to tell you where to get with (encounter). American commentators
off. (Don't take all this too seriously: I'm only have often referred to these usages as three-
having you on.)' part verbs.

The prepositional problem Stress patterns

From the point of view of neat grammatical In a phrasal verb proper, in normal speech
description, there is an uneasy continuum where no special emphasis is employed, the
between the phrasal verb proper, as described adverbial particle is stressed, as in She picked
above, and verbs that are followed by what up the book and She picked the book up.
look like (and usually are) straightforward However, the preposition in a two-part fused,
prepositional phrases. There are occasional non-separable, or prepositional verb is not
truly odd usages, such as the difference normally stressed like this. It has weak stress,
between getting round people and getting as in / didn't bargain for that. In a three-part
people round, but these still involve a fully fusion, the stresses combine the two patterns,
adverbial use of the particle. In getting off a as in He looks UP to people like that. There
bus, however, the nature of the particle is less can also be adverbial/prepositional contrasts,
clear, and in some situations although the as in: 'He flew in the plane' (travelled) and
particle is clearly a preposition, something 'Heflewin the plane' (piloted).
strange is going on. Thus, the sentence 'He Native users of English do all of this natur-
came across the street' is rightly analysed as ally and without thinking about the stress,
(He came)(across the street), but the sentence seldom slipping up, but foreign learners need
'She came across an old friend' is not (She experience and practice - and often slip up on
came)(across an old friend). It makes more the way to proficiency. One day, however,
sense as a phrasal form: (She came across)(an when such usages are fully integrated at early
old friend), with come across being glossed as stages into most English courses, their diffi-
meet by chance. But the particle is still a culties should be reduced. Young foreign
preposition. learners introduced into native peer groups
Some commentators call this kind of usage soon pick up the rhythms and idioms without
a prepositional verb, precisely because the difficulty. There is nothing innately awful
particle is not adverbial but prepositional. about them.
Logically, in such a terminology, phrasal
verbs proper should be called 'adverbial
verbs', but no one as far as I know has put Productivity
this proposal forward. My own term for this Although always common in the vernacular,
usage has for some years been a fused or phrasal verbs have been growing commoner
non-separable phrasal verb. This is because the since at least the middle of the 19th century.
preposition has, as it were, been 'stolen' from In the 20th century they have increased
its own phrase and 'fused' with the verb in a phenomenally, especially in North America
new, unique idiomatic relationship. Such (and around the world under North Ameri-
usages are far fewer than typical phrasal can influence).
verbs, but are common enough to cause Many newspapers and periodicals regularly
trouble for foreign learners. They include: act incorporate phrasal verbs into their head-
for (represent), bargain for (expect), call for lines. Time magazine makes a particular habit
(demand), come by (obtain), get at (imply), go of it, and three of its many banners are:
for (attack). CARRY ALONG, PUNCH IN, READ

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OUT (headline for a story about a new port- sions, nonce and stunt coinages abound (see
able computer, 21 Jun 82), DROPOUT the accompanying glossary). This increase
DROPS IN (for a meteorite landing on has encouraged publications about phrasal
someone's house, 22 Nov 82) and DICTA- verbs, including dictionaries of phrasal verbs
TOR OF DINING OUT (for a restaurant published since 1974. Increasingly, phrasal
critic, 17 Jan 83). The following seven heads verbs have been given main-entry or special
all appeared in the one issue of 21 Mar 83: sub-entry status in dictionaries for both
SIZING UP THE ENEMY, HE IS DOWN foreign learners and native users of English.
DESPITE THE UPS, HEADS UP, GET- They are now also routinely the subject of
TING DOWN TO WORK, SHEIK special treatment in courses for foreign
DOWN, SHAKEN UP, and CHILLING learners. Indeed, it is work in this area which
OUT ON RAP FLASH. has led to their detailed grammatical and
Such headlines, though prominent, are lexicological examination after centuries of
only the tip of the phrasal-verb iceberg. In something which, in hindsight, looks at best
addition to the massive use of the literal like myopia, at worst like neglect. ED
system and its commoner figurative exten-

Phrasal Verbs: A select glossary of nonce usages, stunt words, and

other neologisms
Although the quantity and variety of phrasal verbs is remarkable today, creativity in this area has a
long pedigree. Thus, John Keats in Endymion (1818) wrote:
The region; nor bright, nor sombre wholly,
But mingled up; a gleaming melancholy;
A dusky empire and its diadems.
and in Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte wrote:
'I will go, if no better may be; but I don't like it. Shall you be there, Mrs Fairfax?' - 'No; I pleaded
off, and he admitted my plea.'
Below is a range of more recent creations, from general to technical to slang. No opinion is offered
on how long they may last.
bevvy up to drink (alcoholic beverages): 'We cool out to finish with being cool: 'I had a heyday
followed one audience group from Tamworth with the whole iceman-cometh bit. I'm cooled
whose day started out with getting well bewied out, man. I've seen so much cool, it's just left
up on the coach' {Observer, 1 June 86). me cold' (David Bowie, quoted in the Montreal
bottle out to have one's courage {si bottle) fail: 'A Gazette, 28 Apr 83).
film on police corruption that the BBC had counsel out to talk to people about the future
bottled out of showing {Observer, 9 Nov 86). when laying them off: 'In chartered
buffet up and down to go up and down as if accountancy circles, the term is not layoff but
buffeted by the wind: 'The process of launch- 'counselling-out' - and firms that are counsell-
ing these businesses on a Stock Exchange where ing increasing numbers of people out the door
prices are buffeted up and down in an era of are not necessarily suffering a drop in business'
chronic instability' {The Times, editorial, 7 Aug (Toronto Globe & Mail, 28 Jul 82).
84). crap up to flatter crassly: 'He'll miss you too. We
castle out to see more than enough castles: 'I'm all will.' - 'Don't crap me up, Jimmy. It'll be a
castled out' (heard on a British Rail train: an lot more peaceful in the family with me gone'
American tourist heading for home after too (Belva Plain, Evergreen, 1978).
much heritage, summer 1986). dial out to stop listening or reading: 'Oh no, you
cheer down the opposite of cheer up: 'Surely you are thinking: more gum-beating on the "true
need cheering up and not down in hospital' Olympic spirit." But before you dial out on this
{The Times, 15 Aug 84). homily, hear me' {USA Today, 14 Aug 84).
cookie out to eat more than enough cookies: 'I'm dolly in to move in on a dolly or wheeled stand:
cookied out' (said by Chris Cagney, in an 'Ellen was barely aware of the big camera as it
episode of the US TV series Cagney and Lacey, dollied in for a closeup of the moussaka' (Ruth
1987). Harris, A Self-Made Woman, 1983).

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explete off to move off or depart (while explet- man of Mr Smith's calibre would nut out some
ing): 'She expleted off-screen at some point. I kind of approach that would work in any
didn't hear it myself, having long since expleted situation' (Colleen McCullough, A Creed for the
off (Sunday Times, 28 Aug 88). Third Millennium, 1985).
glam up to make more glamorous: 'We sell Fifties scarf down to eat avidly: 'They refused to visit
clothes, but made now and glammed up, one of the world's swankiest resort towns, sip
wilder' (Sunday Times magazine, 14 Apr 85). champagne kirs, scarf down strawberries the
grim out to make feel grim: 'Hate to grim every- size of winesap apples and be treated like
one out, but you don't make passes at women in pashas' (Time, 2 Jun 86).
1985, you audition for them' (Playboy, Feb 85). schmaltz up to make schmaltzy or excessively
hack out to produce crudely, as the work of a sentimental: 'Here, schmaltz 'em up with your
hack writer: 'The accompanying novel is also classical virtuosity' (Erich Segal, The Class,
substantially more than the average hacked-out 1985).
book of the series' (Listener, 14 Apr 88). shlep out to drag oneself along: 'Are you nuts?
haul off to start a punch: 'Audiences seem to like You're not going to pay another's day's rent on
him, though - to the point where at least one that van, and I'm not shlepping out here again'
rather perverse crowd gave him a big cheer (Nicholas Conde, The Religion, 1982).
when he hauled off and walloped Eve in the slag off to insult or criticize coarsely: 'She seemed
face' (Montreal Gazette, 24 Mar 83). to have become quite inordinately angry about
heavy up to make heavy or heavier: 'His major the Labour reaction to her ill-judged speech in
new proposal was to heavy up the government Kuala Lumpur about the trade unions. Of
side of the machinery of politics, as distin- course the Labour front-bench slagged her off.
guished from the party side' (International Her- They're supposed to. It's their paid employ-
ald Tribune editorial, referring to Gorbachev, ment' (Observer, 21 Apr 85).
30 June 88). smooth along to go along smoothly: 'Then there
huff out to quit in a huff: 'The Communist Party is the problem of body language. Just when he
has now huffed out of the French government' is smoothing along nice and easy, something
(IHT, editorial, 21-22 Jul 84). will throw him off stride, and he will be
hulk back to carry or take back in or like a hulk: afflicted by these strange jerks and twitches'
'The Kremlin would have taken immediate (Time, 1 Jun 81).
advantage of the situation and knocked out the snick up to move in with a snick: 'Out onto the
Minute Man Siloes while the Trident C-4s were straight, as you snick up into fifth, you've time
being hulked back useless to Newport' (Guard- to appreciate the feel of a car born to run'
ian editorial, 17 Aug 84). (Vauxhallad,Jul83).
legislate away to take away through legislation: spiel off to reel off glibly (in a prepared spiel):
'Anglophone rights have been legislated away' 'He spieled off a dozen questions before Ulric
(Montreal Gazette, 24 Mar 83). managed to cut him off (Philip Michaels, Come
luck out to be very lucky: 'Although I was only a Follow Me. 1983).
junior, I had lucked out and received a single sugar off Canadian to turn mapel syrup into
room in a dorm meant only for senior' (Pent- sugar by boiling: 'Come to our sugaring off
house, Jan 84). - party! Maple taffy on snow. Sugar shack menu
man up to have enough men: 'We are manned up in all Simpson's restaurants' (Canadian ad,
for the heaviest traffic' (Observer, 15 Feb 87, on February 1983).
air traffic control). trend down to go down as a trend: 'Inflation is
negotiate out to get out by negotiating: 'The trending down' (Montreal Gazette, 24 Sep 82).
Syrians are trying to negotiate the hostages out, trundle on to go heavily on, as if trundling: 'It's
bartering freedom in limited areas to the wild about the bad things in life - how they trundle
men backed by Tehran' (Independent, 16 Mar on, and how people and government allow
87). them to trundle on' (Woman's Journal, Jan 84).
pope out to have more than enough of a pope's two-step up to go up two steps at a time: 'I
visit: 'I encountered two apparently drunk two-stepped up the stone stairs and made the
teenage girls, wearing little Vatican flags in first right I came to' (Nancy Greenwald, Lady-
their headbands, who said they were totally cat, 1980).
"poped out" after attending both the youth wheech up Scottish to dance and enjoy oneself,
rally and a subsequent papal Mass' (Indepen- including an occasional wheech or cry while
dent, 17 Sep 87). dancing: 'But time and whisky had loosened
nuke back to carry back through nuclear devas- their reserve as well till in the end they'd been
tation: 'A community of innocent, beer-swilling wheedling it up with the best of them' (Emma
proles is nuked back into the stone Age as a Blair, Where No Man Cries, 1982).
result of their leaders' incompetence' (Observer, wimp out to behave like a complete wimp: 'Come
HNov84). on, get mean, don't wimp out on me now'
nut out to work out in one's nut (si. head): 'A (IHT, 10 Jan 85). "

44 ENGLISH TODAY 18 April 1989

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