What... up?
June 5, 2005 9:55 AM Subscribe
The 70's seemed to be gripped by "Up the [blank]" mania. Up The Organization (1970). Up the Chastity Belt (1971). Up the Sandbox (1972). Up the Workers (1973). Up the Academy (1980). Then there was "Up With People," but that doesn't really seem related in tone. Where did the "Up the..." form come from, and why the prevalence in 70's culture?
I'm not sure they're all related. I think there might have been a bunch of British films -- perhaps coming from the Carry On series of movies -- that kind of echo the underdog aspect, from the strike prone 70's. But it's a ubiquitous phrase.
posted by peacay at 10:29 AM on June 5, 2005
posted by peacay at 10:29 AM on June 5, 2005
Earlier was Up The Junction 1965. Ken Loach TV movie. Doesn't solve the origin of the phrase tho.
posted by cushie at 11:11 AM on June 5, 2005
posted by cushie at 11:11 AM on June 5, 2005
I was there at the time, and they're not all related. You're dealing with a variety of 'Ups.' I read some of these as "Up [the Ass] of the Organization/Sandbox/Academy" and others as "Up With [your glass to salute] People/the workers, etc.
"Up against the wall" was a whole other deal.
But answer your question, who the heck knows where memes come from and why some catch fire? Can you imagine someone 30 years from now trying to puzzle out the "All your base..." thing?
posted by mojohand at 11:48 AM on June 5, 2005 [1 favorite]
"Up against the wall" was a whole other deal.
But answer your question, who the heck knows where memes come from and why some catch fire? Can you imagine someone 30 years from now trying to puzzle out the "All your base..." thing?
posted by mojohand at 11:48 AM on June 5, 2005 [1 favorite]
What irks me is the "American _____________" title. American Pie, American Psycho, American Idiot, American Movie, American Skin, American Beauty, American Splendor, American Idol, American Triangle, etc. Think of an original title already! Sheesh.
posted by Servo5678 at 12:12 PM on June 5, 2005
posted by Servo5678 at 12:12 PM on June 5, 2005
For what it's worth, I believe Up The Junction is another type of "up" again - "I'm going up the junction" with similar sense as "I'm going down town". The junction in question is Clapham Junction.
I wonder if the "Up the..."-as-salute is a lift from another language - a Communist equivalent of Vive le Roi? Or it could just be a corruption of "raise up the workers" or somesuch, with a peculiarly British "up yours" subtext.
posted by Leon at 12:16 PM on June 5, 2005
I wonder if the "Up the..."-as-salute is a lift from another language - a Communist equivalent of Vive le Roi? Or it could just be a corruption of "raise up the workers" or somesuch, with a peculiarly British "up yours" subtext.
posted by Leon at 12:16 PM on June 5, 2005
I also heard of an expression "Up The Queen" and just assumed it was an insult of some sort.
posted by boost ventilator at 12:17 PM on June 5, 2005
posted by boost ventilator at 12:17 PM on June 5, 2005
I can't answer the question directly, but can confirm that "Up against the wall" was totally unrelated : this is from something I wrote maybe five years ago :
During the period 1966 to 1967 a group of anarchists residing in a squat on Manhattans Lower East Side called themselves "The Motherfuckers".
Living communally, they were one of the far more openly militant groups of their time, relied upon by the SDS and other (more secretive) radical organisations to provide muscle during street riots and the subsequent confrontations with the Police.
The SDS at that time were busily up to their own variety of nasty tricks, for example bombing police stations and police cars, hence their interest in - and some even charge use of - the Motherfuckers to provide distractions for their more nefarious activities.
Of course Cops pride themselves on their "hippness", and even now tend to refer to gang members by their group association so any assumption of anonymity on the part of gang members is immediately be shown to be false.
Hence the expression "UP AGAINST THE WALL MOTHERFUCKER!"
In later the sixties and early seventies The MC5 (Motor City 5 from Detroit) had a song of the same name.
Finally, poet Le Roi Jones, later known by his muslim name Amiri Baraka - originally a Greenwich Village beat poet, but later a black nationalist - used the same line in many works.
In later years he openly followed and endorsed Malcolm X, so the Village Voice and other liberal publications of that time didn't appreciate him so much anymore.
posted by Mutant at 12:20 PM on June 5, 2005
During the period 1966 to 1967 a group of anarchists residing in a squat on Manhattans Lower East Side called themselves "The Motherfuckers".
Living communally, they were one of the far more openly militant groups of their time, relied upon by the SDS and other (more secretive) radical organisations to provide muscle during street riots and the subsequent confrontations with the Police.
The SDS at that time were busily up to their own variety of nasty tricks, for example bombing police stations and police cars, hence their interest in - and some even charge use of - the Motherfuckers to provide distractions for their more nefarious activities.
Of course Cops pride themselves on their "hippness", and even now tend to refer to gang members by their group association so any assumption of anonymity on the part of gang members is immediately be shown to be false.
Hence the expression "UP AGAINST THE WALL MOTHERFUCKER!"
In later the sixties and early seventies The MC5 (Motor City 5 from Detroit) had a song of the same name.
Finally, poet Le Roi Jones, later known by his muslim name Amiri Baraka - originally a Greenwich Village beat poet, but later a black nationalist - used the same line in many works.
In later years he openly followed and endorsed Malcolm X, so the Village Voice and other liberal publications of that time didn't appreciate him so much anymore.
posted by Mutant at 12:20 PM on June 5, 2005
I'd guess the slightly vague meme you've identified was kickstarted by Up the Organization, which was a popcult sensation in 1970. It's listed here as the #5 nonfiction bestseller of the year, just after Better Homes and Gardens Fondue and Tabletop Cooking. Townsend had just revitalized Avis and his book was seen as a poke in the eye to common U.S. business practices, so it makes sense he'd appropriate the rebellious "up your ass/stop the man" stuff in his double entendre title.
posted by mediareport at 12:20 PM on June 5, 2005
posted by mediareport at 12:20 PM on June 5, 2005
I think it's British in origin. I don't have a source to point to other than having heard British people say it.
"Up the _______" for support, praise, etc.
"Down the _______" for disapproval, insult...
posted by Jon-o at 12:20 PM on June 5, 2005
"Up the _______" for support, praise, etc.
"Down the _______" for disapproval, insult...
posted by Jon-o at 12:20 PM on June 5, 2005
In later the sixties and early seventies The MC5 (Motor City 5 from Detroit) had a song of the same name.
Actually, the MC5 song was "Kick Out The Jams, Motherfuckers," and they had a public brawl with The Motherfuckers because they arrived at a gig at The Fillmore East in a rented limosuine. It was soon after that they severed their relationship with John Sinclair (see Legs McNeil's Please Kill Me for more detail.) It was the Jefferson Airplane who used the phrase "Up Against The Wall, Motherfucker," in their "We Can Be Together." (both songs are excellent by the way.
Back to the question at hand, I think that "Up The [blank]" was a common British Isles way of expressing support for something. I've read several books where Irish nationalists are always saying "Up The Republic!" so it's probably from that, IMHO.
posted by jonmc at 12:37 PM on June 5, 2005 [1 favorite]
Actually, the MC5 song was "Kick Out The Jams, Motherfuckers," and they had a public brawl with The Motherfuckers because they arrived at a gig at The Fillmore East in a rented limosuine. It was soon after that they severed their relationship with John Sinclair (see Legs McNeil's Please Kill Me for more detail.) It was the Jefferson Airplane who used the phrase "Up Against The Wall, Motherfucker," in their "We Can Be Together." (both songs are excellent by the way.
Back to the question at hand, I think that "Up The [blank]" was a common British Isles way of expressing support for something. I've read several books where Irish nationalists are always saying "Up The Republic!" so it's probably from that, IMHO.
posted by jonmc at 12:37 PM on June 5, 2005 [1 favorite]
I've heard the British version, too, Jon-o, and it fits the "Up the Workers" TV show eschatfische mentions, but I doubt Townsend intended "Up the Organization" as anything but supportive; the book was pretty irreverent, which helps explain its wide appeal at the time. Yahoo tells me articles about it appeared in both Playboy and Life that year, which may help explain why the folks behind the two (rather minor and off-the-wall) U.S. movies in the original post would use it as a convenient point of reference.
posted by mediareport at 12:51 PM on June 5, 2005
posted by mediareport at 12:51 PM on June 5, 2005
I doubt Townsend intended "Up the Organization" as anything but supportive
Yearg. "...as anything supportive...", I should have said. Anyway, point being, there was a minor "Up the..." meme in the U.S. that was related to Townsend's book; the Streisand and Downey movies were probably working off that, but the Brit show almost certainly wasn't.
posted by mediareport at 12:53 PM on June 5, 2005
Yearg. "...as anything supportive...", I should have said. Anyway, point being, there was a minor "Up the..." meme in the U.S. that was related to Townsend's book; the Streisand and Downey movies were probably working off that, but the Brit show almost certainly wasn't.
posted by mediareport at 12:53 PM on June 5, 2005
I live in Cork, Ireland. Everywhere I look there are these stickers that say "Up Cork!" or "Up the Rebels". I don't know if this helps at but here it's a positive thing.
posted by Livewire Confusion at 1:40 PM on June 5, 2005
posted by Livewire Confusion at 1:40 PM on June 5, 2005
I doubt Townsend intended "Up the Organization" as anything supportive; the book was pretty irreverent,
Well, if it's irreverent, then "Up the Organization" is probably a sarcastic title.
posted by Jon-o at 3:14 PM on June 5, 2005
Well, if it's irreverent, then "Up the Organization" is probably a sarcastic title.
posted by Jon-o at 3:14 PM on June 5, 2005
See also Up the Arse [SFW], frequent slogan of Arsenal football fans. Obviously used in the positive, "up the rebels" sense.
posted by cushie at 3:39 PM on June 5, 2005
posted by cushie at 3:39 PM on June 5, 2005
It's like the "Rising" meme, what's with "Red Storm Rising" and other such titles?
posted by inksyndicate at 3:44 PM on June 5, 2005
posted by inksyndicate at 3:44 PM on June 5, 2005
It's definitely British slang - and I've always believed it's a bad play on words. As previous posters have said, the "up the..." usually connotes support, but it is a double-entendre implying "up the ass", ie fuck 'em.
posted by skylar at 3:55 PM on June 5, 2005
posted by skylar at 3:55 PM on June 5, 2005
"Up against the wall redneck mothers" Jerry Jeff Walker.
I don't think the "Up the..." the FPP poster is asking about has anything to do with "the wall" or "mother fuckers". I thought it was more about exposing the thing for what it was as in the organization in "Up the organization".
posted by Carbolic at 8:28 PM on June 5, 2005
I don't think the "Up the..." the FPP poster is asking about has anything to do with "the wall" or "mother fuckers". I thought it was more about exposing the thing for what it was as in the organization in "Up the organization".
posted by Carbolic at 8:28 PM on June 5, 2005
who the heck knows where memes come from and why some catch fire? Can you imagine someone 30 years from now trying to puzzle out the "All your base..." thing?
Yes. I can imagine they'll hit the modern equivalent of google/wikipedia and say, "What an interesting cultural phenomena that everyone glommed on to a bad translation of the game Zero Wing when ported to Sega. This obsession with "Engrish" as it was called was obviously a sign of the turn of the century discomfort with globalism." Then again, I imagine a lot.
Eschatfische dear:
Theory 1: Up The Garden Path is used to be led astray -- Up The Corporation means to be lead (or to lead a corporation) astray
And before anyone says, "it's Down the Garden Path, you dolt," here's a citation:
From "Heavens to Betsy" by Charles Earle Funk (Harper & Row, New York, 1955): "to lead one up (or down) the garden (or garden path) - This expression, in frequent use by English writers, has not yet gained much currency in the United States. It is relatively new, dating probably no further back than around the end of World War I. When I wrote to Sir St. Vincent Troubridge, whom I have quoted variously elsewhere, to inquire whether he could suggest a possible origin, I advanced the theory that seduction might have been the aim in the 'leading.' He did not agree with that view, though he was not able to offer anything more plausible. Nevertheless, to quote the 'Supplement (1933) to The English Oxford Dictionary,' the saying means 'to lead on - mislead,' and the earliest printed quotation that is cited in from Ethel Mannin's 'Sounding Brass' (1926): 'They're cheats, that's wot women are! Lead you up the garden and then go snivellin' around 'cos wot's natcheral 'as 'appened to 'em.' If that doesn't imply seduction, then what does it imply? Be that as it may, current usage rarely, if ever, carries other meaning than to bamboozle, to hoax, to blarney, to pull one's leg, to deceive."
Theory 2: It relates to up the river, a sentence or a punishment. This would be snarky, but not "up the ass" snarky, which seems inappropriate for the creators of some of these works.
UP THE RIVER - "was originally an underworld term for a sentence in a reformatory or jail. It probably derives from the fact that New York State's most famous prison, Sing Sing, is 'up the river' from New York City." From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).
Theory 3: Up the creek. It was a known phrase back then to be in deep trouble and less dirty than "up shit creek". Up The Corporation is about corporations being in trouble with no way out. UP THE SANDBOX -- the trouble with domestic/mommy life with no way out. UP THE ACADEMY -- stuck at school without an escape. Being a British show, I'm sure Up The Workers is probably from the etymology of "Power to the" as mentioned above, rather than the Americanism of the other titles -- even if it's used ironically.
Theory 4: It sounded good. Up The Corporation sounded vaguely naughty, but in no specific way and it caught on. mediareport says it was popular enough to be known. It caught on as a familiar sounding phrase, much like "It's a black/east coast/girl/Sprite thing" around 1999-2003.
posted by Gucky at 10:27 PM on June 5, 2005
Yes. I can imagine they'll hit the modern equivalent of google/wikipedia and say, "What an interesting cultural phenomena that everyone glommed on to a bad translation of the game Zero Wing when ported to Sega. This obsession with "Engrish" as it was called was obviously a sign of the turn of the century discomfort with globalism." Then again, I imagine a lot.
Eschatfische dear:
Theory 1: Up The Garden Path is used to be led astray -- Up The Corporation means to be lead (or to lead a corporation) astray
And before anyone says, "it's Down the Garden Path, you dolt," here's a citation:
From "Heavens to Betsy" by Charles Earle Funk (Harper & Row, New York, 1955): "to lead one up (or down) the garden (or garden path) - This expression, in frequent use by English writers, has not yet gained much currency in the United States. It is relatively new, dating probably no further back than around the end of World War I. When I wrote to Sir St. Vincent Troubridge, whom I have quoted variously elsewhere, to inquire whether he could suggest a possible origin, I advanced the theory that seduction might have been the aim in the 'leading.' He did not agree with that view, though he was not able to offer anything more plausible. Nevertheless, to quote the 'Supplement (1933) to The English Oxford Dictionary,' the saying means 'to lead on - mislead,' and the earliest printed quotation that is cited in from Ethel Mannin's 'Sounding Brass' (1926): 'They're cheats, that's wot women are! Lead you up the garden and then go snivellin' around 'cos wot's natcheral 'as 'appened to 'em.' If that doesn't imply seduction, then what does it imply? Be that as it may, current usage rarely, if ever, carries other meaning than to bamboozle, to hoax, to blarney, to pull one's leg, to deceive."
Theory 2: It relates to up the river, a sentence or a punishment. This would be snarky, but not "up the ass" snarky, which seems inappropriate for the creators of some of these works.
UP THE RIVER - "was originally an underworld term for a sentence in a reformatory or jail. It probably derives from the fact that New York State's most famous prison, Sing Sing, is 'up the river' from New York City." From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).
Theory 3: Up the creek. It was a known phrase back then to be in deep trouble and less dirty than "up shit creek". Up The Corporation is about corporations being in trouble with no way out. UP THE SANDBOX -- the trouble with domestic/mommy life with no way out. UP THE ACADEMY -- stuck at school without an escape. Being a British show, I'm sure Up The Workers is probably from the etymology of "Power to the" as mentioned above, rather than the Americanism of the other titles -- even if it's used ironically.
Theory 4: It sounded good. Up The Corporation sounded vaguely naughty, but in no specific way and it caught on. mediareport says it was popular enough to be known. It caught on as a familiar sounding phrase, much like "It's a black/east coast/girl/Sprite thing" around 1999-2003.
posted by Gucky at 10:27 PM on June 5, 2005
skylar: but it is a double-entendre implying "up the ass"
That would be 'Up the Khyber Pass' ;-)
posted by tellurian at 12:17 AM on June 6, 2005
That would be 'Up the Khyber Pass' ;-)
posted by tellurian at 12:17 AM on June 6, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by orthogonality at 10:27 AM on June 5, 2005