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Komountain Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Wipe

0 Hello, everyone. 02br
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00If you spill milk on the floor, what do you need to wipe up, milk, floor, or either? 0-
  

Top answer

0 If you have a cat, you can get it to lap up the milk first before you wipe the floor. 0-

— Dehbaash

  • 0 If you have a cat, you can get it to lap up the milk first before you wipe the floor.
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18 Answers
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0 If you have a cat, you can get it to lap up the milk first before you wipe the floor. 0-
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0 Dear Komountain, 02br
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00You wipe the floor. You wipe up the milk. You do not need a cat. 05002br
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00Kind regards, 02br
00Goldmund 010id1
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0 Thanks, guys. 02br
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00Can't I ever use 'wipe up the floor'? 0-
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0 From the Oxford E-C Dictionary V4.0:- 02br
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00"wipe(up) the split milk off the floor." 02br
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00(If you don't have a cat, the best bet will be "to first mop up the milk and then wipe the floor.") 0-
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0 Hello 02br
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00I think "wipe up the floor" is a questionable expression. "Up" in "wipe up the milk" means "away from the surface/ground" like "pick up"/"take up". A floor can't be "up" by wiping it clean with a mop or cloth. 02br
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00paco 0-
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0 Paco is correct. You can not "wipe up the floor" unless your action lifts the floor upwards. If the floor is made of treacle then, I guess, you can "wipe up the floor". 02br
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00The most common expression is to "wipe up that mess right now!" 0-
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0 01blockquote
00You can not "wipe up the floor" unless your action lifts the floor upwards.12blockquote
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00If this argument is valid, then it should be equally valid to say the following: 02br
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00You cannot "look up a word" unless your action lifts the word upwards. 02br
00You cannot "take up ski
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0 To Eimai A. and Paco: 02br
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00How are you guys? Thank you for your ideas. 02br
00I have read your replies with interest. 02br
00Does 'wipe up the floor' sound that weird or awkward to your ears? 02br
00As far as 'up' goes, it could mean 'thoroughly' or 'completely,' besides 'upwards.' 02br
00If I remove the milk from the
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0 Hello KM 02br
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00"Wipe" is a little funny verb. Suppose X is a dirt and Y is a place stained with it. Then we can say either "wipe X" or "wipe Y". But as "wipe" is always mono-transitive, we cannot say "wipe X Y" or "wipe Y X". What is interesting to me is that my mother language (Japanese) is the same as English about usage or notion of "wipe". The Japanese verb corres
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0 paco, 02br
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00 (f) (f) (f) 0-
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