0
Usenet Posted 23 years ago
Usage
Catch up
Yesterday, in my reading, I discovered another ponderous difference that I had never noticed before:
"I'll sit, but I'd rather you caught me up."
I read this 10 or more times without getting it. I re-read some of the page leading up to this, expecting to find why the other person was behind and needed to catch up. Was it metaphor? Did it refer to age or stature? No, the other speaker had been a surrogate mother to character speaking. What could it mean?
Finally, light dawned. It meant:
"I'll sit down, but I'd rather you brought me up to date." "I'll sit down, but I'd rather catch up on the news." "I'll sit down, but I'd rather you helped me catch up on the news."
So, my question: Is this use of 'catch up' standard American or is it regional? (The story was set in Maryland.)
Rob Bannister
"I'll sit, but I'd rather you caught me up."
I read this 10 or more times without getting it. I re-read some of the page leading up to this, expecting to find why the other person was behind and needed to catch up. Was it metaphor? Did it refer to age or stature? No, the other speaker had been a surrogate mother to character speaking. What could it mean?
Finally, light dawned. It meant:
"I'll sit down, but I'd rather you brought me up to date." "I'll sit down, but I'd rather catch up on the news." "I'll sit down, but I'd rather you helped me catch up on the news."
So, my question: Is this use of 'catch up' standard American or is it regional? (The story was set in Maryland.)
Rob Bannister
Top answer
[nq:1]So, my question: Is this use of 'catch up' standard American or is it regional? )[/nq] "Catch me up" is pretty common. Sometimes it's followed with "on xx," "catch me up on xx," but it's fine without it too.
- [nq:1]So, my question: Is this use of 'catch up' standard American or is it regional?
- )[/nq] "Catch me up" is pretty common.
- Sometimes it's followed with "on xx," "catch me up on xx," but it's fine without it too.
- I'm surprised its meaning wasn't clear from context.
- How would you have expressed the same idea?
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
18 Answers
0
[nq:1]So, my question: Is this use of 'catch up' standard American or is it regional? (The story was set in Maryland.)[/nq]
"Catch me up" is pretty common. Sometimes it's followed with "on xx," "catch me up on xx," but it's fine without it too.
I'm surprised its meaning wasn't clear from context.
How would you have expressed the same idea?
Dena Jo
For email, dele
"Catch me up" is pretty common. Sometimes it's followed with "on xx," "catch me up on xx," but it's fine without it too.
I'm surprised its meaning wasn't clear from context.
How would you have expressed the same idea?
Dena Jo
For email, dele
00
Dena Jo (Email Removed) wrote on 12 Nov 2003:
[nq:2]So, my question: Is this use of 'catch up' standard American or is it regional? (The story was set in Maryland.)[/nq]
[nq:1]"Catch me up" is pretty common. Sometimes it's followed with "on xx," "catch me up on xx," but it's fine without it too.[/nq]
It must be a recent or regional expression. I suppose it could come from newsreaders t
[nq:2]So, my question: Is this use of 'catch up' standard American or is it regional? (The story was set in Maryland.)[/nq]
[nq:1]"Catch me up" is pretty common. Sometimes it's followed with "on xx," "catch me up on xx," but it's fine without it too.[/nq]
It must be a recent or regional expression. I suppose it could come from newsreaders t
00
"Bring me up to date" is how I would ask for it to happen, were I not able to "catch up on what's going on" myself.
In other words, "catch up" on things is what I do often, and I am in the USA.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
In other words, "catch up" on things is what I do often, and I am in the USA.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
00
"Skitt" (Email Removed) wrote on 12 Nov 2003:
[nq:2]It must be a recent or regional expression. I suppose ... in the US. "I'd rather that you filled me in".[/nq]
[nq:1]"Bring me up to date" is how I would ask for it to happen, were I not able to "catch up on what's going on" myself. In other words, "catch up" on things is what I do often, and I am in the USA.[/nq]
Right. I* catch up
[nq:2]It must be a recent or regional expression. I suppose ... in the US. "I'd rather that you filled me in".[/nq]
[nq:1]"Bring me up to date" is how I would ask for it to happen, were I not able to "catch up on what's going on" myself. In other words, "catch up" on things is what I do often, and I am in the USA.[/nq]
Right. I* catch up
00
>
I understood it as intended the first time, even without context. It was slightly awkward, and not something that I would say myself. I would guess that it is in most people's passive phraseulary here.
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
I understood it as intended the first time, even without context. It was slightly awkward, and not something that I would say myself. I would guess that it is in most people's passive phraseulary here.
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
00
0
(Regarding "to catch (someone) up" meaning 'to bring (someone) up-to-date on the news':)
[nq:1]So far, only one person has claimed it as part of their standard vocabulary. I do accept 'fill me in', ... as I take it to mainly mean 'fill me in on the details' rather than the news as a whole.[/nq]
I certainly consider "catch me up" as part of my standard vocabulary, though I couldn't swear on
[nq:1]So far, only one person has claimed it as part of their standard vocabulary. I do accept 'fill me in', ... as I take it to mainly mean 'fill me in on the details' rather than the news as a whole.[/nq]
I certainly consider "catch me up" as part of my standard vocabulary, though I couldn't swear on
00
[nq:1]I certainly consider "catch me up" as part of my standard vocabulary, though I couldn't swear one way or the other to whether I actually use it or not. But it's certainly something I hear without blinking and regard as ordinary.[/nq]
How do you differentiate that sense from the more common one where you are telling someone else to catch up to you?
Regards
John
How do you differentiate that sense from the more common one where you are telling someone else to catch up to you?
Regards
John
00
[nq:2]I certainly consider "catch me up" as part of my ... certainly something I hear without blinking and regard as ordinary.[/nq]
[nq:1]How do you differentiate that sense from the more common one where you are telling someone else to catch up to you?[/nq]
You mean "catch up to you" as in 'travel fast enough to be able to overtake you'? I don't have that as a transitive verb - "catch you
[nq:1]How do you differentiate that sense from the more common one where you are telling someone else to catch up to you?[/nq]
You mean "catch up to you" as in 'travel fast enough to be able to overtake you'? I don't have that as a transitive verb - "catch you
00
[nq:1]You mean "catch up to you" as in 'travel fast enough to be able to overtake you'? I don't have that as a transitive verb - "catch you up" doesn't have that meaning for me.[/nq]
It's normal in BrE, and the only meaning I've met. (By the way, it would be "catch up with you" here.)
David
It's normal in BrE, and the only meaning I've met. (By the way, it would be "catch up with you" here.)
David
0
Related Questions