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Perfect Stranger Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

[idiom] up stick/to pull up stakes

Dear All,

As far as I know in Britain it'd be more common to hear up sticks while in the US it'd be to pull up stakes.

Can I say:

I don't want to up stick all my life. It'd be great to finally settle down somewhere.
I don't want to pull up stakes all my life. It'd be great to finally settle down somewhere.

Thanks
  

Top answer

Perfect Stranger I don't want to up stick s all my life. It'd be great to finally settle down somewhere. This doesn't sound exactly right to me.

— GPY

  • Perfect Stranger I don't want to up stick s all my life.
  • It'd be great to finally settle down somewhere.
  • This doesn't sound exactly right to me.
  • "up sticks" is a discrete action, not an ongoing state or activity, so something like "I don't want to keep (on) upping sticks" or "I don't want to be constantly upping sticks" seems more appropriate.
  • I don't know the expression "pull up stakes", so I'll let someone else comment on that.
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6 Answers
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Perfect StrangerI don't want to up sticks all my life. It'd be great to finally settle down somewhere.
This doesn't sound exactly right to me. "up sticks" is a discrete action, not an ongoing state or activity, so something like "I don't want to keep (on) upping sticks" or "I don't want to be constantly upping sticks"
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GPYI don't know the expression "pull up stakes", so I'll let someone else comment on that. However, I suspect it may suffer from the same issue.
As far as I know, it's the American version of the same thing; however, my American ears are willing to let "pull up stakes all my life" mean implicitly "keep pulling up stakes all my life". The phrase "all my life"
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Hi

In UK English, it's an idiom I recognise. Maybe it's unusual because there's no verb after 'to'. This is how we say it

- I've only just got my daughter in to school, I don't want to up sticks again

It's not for me to say how it is in the US, but I'd guess at:

- I've only just got my daughter in to school, I don't want to pull up stakes again

Dave
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dave_anonMaybe it's unusual because there's no verb after 'to'.
Um, the verb is "up".
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You're right. I must up my game

Dave
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Thank you for those answers! Much appreciated!
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