Making sense of ON UP

Question

Not being a native speaker of English, I would very much appreciate it if someone could throw some more light on the phrase ON UP as used in the following sentence from a Newsweek article about family-friendly, kid-friendly holidays.
[nq:1]Club Med?s ?GOs? (gentle organizers) feed, nap and entertain infants ON UP, for the whole day or just a few hours, depending on what activities the parents undertake.[/nq]
Is this phrase used in the sense of ON AND ON, or is it the result of mixing up two phrases. Who is familiar with ON UP and its meaning? All the dictionaries - including American English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase.
Any help appreciated.
Johan

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Not being a native speaker of English, I would very much appreciate it if someone could throw some more light on the phrase ON UP as used in the following sentence from a Newsweek article about family-friendly, kid-friendly holidays.[/nq]
[nq:2]Club Med's "GOs" (gentle organizers) feed, nap and entertain infants ... a few hours, depending on what activities the parents undertake.[/nq]
[nq:1]Is this phrase used in the sense of ON AND ON, or is it the result of mixing up two ... UP and its meaning? All the dictionaries - including American English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase.[/nq]
I think it means: (infants) and older children.
m.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Not being a native speaker of English, I would very much appreciate it if someone could throw some more light on the phrase ON UP as used in the following sentence from a Newsweek article about family-friendly, kid-friendly holidays.[/nq]
[nq:2]Club Med's "GOs" (gentle organizers) feed, nap and entertain infants ... a few hours, depending on what activities the parents undertake.[/nq]
[nq:1]Is this phrase used in the sense of ON AND ON, or is it the result of mixing up two ... All the dictionaries - including American English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase. Any help appreciated. Johan[/nq]
As a native speaker of English, the phrase makes no sense to me at all. Nor does the use of the word "nap" in this context either, it could mean that the GOs go to sleep during this activity though it's unlikely that meaning is intended.
Regards,
Arfur

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Not being a native speaker of English, I would very much appreciate it if someone could throw some more light on the phrase ON UP as used in the following sentence from a Newsweek article about family-friendly, kid-friendly holidays.[/nq]
[nq:2]Club Med?s ?GOs? (gentle organizers) feed, nap and entertain infants ... a few hours, depending on what activities the parents undertake.[/nq]
[nq:1]Is this phrase used in the sense of ON AND ON, or is it the result of mixing up two ... UP and its meaning? All the dictionaries - including American English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase.[/nq]
Poorly written, but the meaning they entertain children from the age of (whatever they decide is an infant's age) up to (whatever age they decide is too old to entertain). Say, from the age of 6 months on up to six years.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Not being a native speaker of English, I would very much appreciate it if someone could throw some more light on the phrase ON UP as used in the following sentence from a Newsweek article about family-friendly, kid-friendly holidays.[/nq]
[nq:2]Club Med?s ?GOs? (gentle organizers) feed, nap and entertain infants ... a few hours, depending on what activities the parents undertake.[/nq]
[nq:1]Is this phrase used in the sense of ON AND ON, or is it the result of mixing up two ... UP and its meaning? All the dictionaries - including American English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase.[/nq]
Did you really give us the whole sentence? For "on up" to make sense, there has to be a "from" somewhere in the sentence.

"From A to B' gives a range (here children's ages). If there is no top limit to the range, the phrase becomes "from A on up".

So somewhere in the original sentence, there must have been a reference to the lowest age group accepted.
Gary

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Not being a native speaker of English, I would very ... English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase.[/nq]
[nq:1]Did you really give us the whole sentence? For "on up" to make sense, there has to be a "from" ... on up". So somewhere in the original sentence, there must have been a reference to the lowest age group accepted.[/nq]
Infants. The lowest age group accepted is infants. Not the British "infants school" thing but the American sense, a baby.

You can't get any younger, of course. Probably they were thinking that they needed to specifically emphasize that they would take care of that low of an age.
This use must be a variant of "and up" "ages 12 and up" means "ages
12 and older," and so does "12 on up."

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Not being a native speaker of English, I would very ... English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase.[/nq]
[nq:1]Did you really give us the whole sentence? For "on up" to make sense, there has to be a "from" ... up". So somewhere in the original sentence, there must have been a reference to the lowest age group accepted. Gary[/nq]
"infants on up"
It may not be good English or immediately clear, but it's decipherable. It means the "gentle organizers" are prepared to accept children from the age of infancy (in child care, this usually means 1 year or less) onward. It means they are prepared to handle children

(Child care for infants can be costly and troublesome to provide because there are mandatory caregiver-to-child ratios, because qualified infant/toddler caregivers are relatively scarce, and because liability insurance rates are high. I'm sure Club Med is making enough to cover their costs, but it still shows an unusual attentiveness to their customers.)

Chris Green

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Not being a native speaker of English, I would very ... English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase.[/nq]
[nq:1]Did you really give us the whole sentence? For "on up" to make sense, there has to be a "from" ... up". So somewhere in the original sentence, there must have been a reference to the lowest age group accepted. Gary[/nq]
"infants on up"
It may not be good English or immediately clear, but it's decipherable. It means the "gentle organizers" are prepared to accept children from the age of infancy (in child care, this usually means 1 year or less) onward. It means they are prepared to handle children who aren't walking yet and aren't toilet trained. This is unusual in commercial child care.

Chris Green

Usenet · Answer

>
>
The prototype is
This toy is for ages 7 on up. (sometimes seen as age 7 and up) This book is for grade 7 on up.
This app works for System 7 on up. (i.e. and later)

It is a little mystery how that "on" snuck in there, because it is not often there if the upper limit is given ("kids from age 7 up to 12"). Is it a mishearing of "and up", or does it have it's own pedigree? I am thinking now that some people say "kids from age 7 on up to 12", but not around here.
The tricky thing here is that it is too awkward to say "This toy is for ages infant on up."
so the "ages" is dropped, and it becomes
"This toy is for infants on up."
which is still a little awkward to my ears,
but I won't complain too much.
I guess that it works out much the same if they
are talking about ages or sizes or throwing range.

The next question is how to say it without adding too many words.

Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Not being a native speaker of English, I would very much appreciate it if someone could throw some more light on the phrase ON UP as used in the following sentence from a Newsweek article about family-friendly, kid-friendly holidays.[/nq]
[nq:2]Club Med?s ?GOs? (gentle organizers) feed, nap and entertain infants ... a few hours, depending on what activities the parents undertake.[/nq]
[nq:1]Is this phrase used in the sense of ON AND ON, or is it the result of mixing up two ... UP and its meaning? All the dictionaries - including American English dictionaries - I have consulted don't list the phrase.[/nq]
I've read several other postings, but no one seems to have hit this one on the head:
First, it seems to be almost exclusively American. (I included the "almost" lest some Kiwi somewhere have heard of it. You never know.)
Next, it is clumsily used in the sentence you quote.

But, third, its meaning is clear to at least this American. It means that whatever precedes it is a lower limit and you don't know what the upper limit is. "Infants on up" therefore means that infants are included as well as older children up to some unspecified age. A similar usage is seen in signs and advertisements for places that sell clothing for let's be tactful large people. And example is "sizes 16 on up." Okay, they could have said "Size 16 and larger," and it might have been a bit more idiomatic, but the meaning is clear.
I checked the Web and several of my print dictionaries and found nothing about "on up." This surprises me, but there it is.

Bob Lieblich
Up on "on up"

Making sense of ON UP

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