subs. phr. (colloquial).—1. Usually in pl. = the events of life, vicissitudes of fortune, alternate good and bad luck. As adj. = plain, downright, positive. As adv. = (1) thorough, completely, in every respect, DOWN TO THE GROUND (q.v.); (2) = bluntly, BRUTALLY (q.v.); and (3) = without favour, justly.
1542. UDALL, The Apophthegmes of Erasmus, 324. He [Phocion] was euen Socrates VP AND DOWNE in this pointe and behalfe, that no man euer sawe hym either laughe or weepe.
1620. MIDDLETON, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, iii. 2. The mother’s month, UP AND DOWN, UP AND DOWN.
1755. WALPOLE, To Richard Bentley, 18 Sept., in Letters, II. 464. A mixture … all UPS that should be DOWNS.
1759. GOLDSMITH, The Bee, No. 3, 20 Oct. Every man who has seen the world, and has had his UPS AND DOWNS in life, as the expression is, must have frequently experienced the truth of this doctrine.
1857. F. LOCKER-LAMPSON, Piccadilly.
| Life is chequer’d; a patchwork of smiles and of frowns; | |
| We value its UPS, let us muse on its DOWNS. |
1869. H. B. STOWE, Oldtown Folks, xx. Talk about coddling! it ’s little we get o’ that, the way the Lord fixes things in this world, dear knows. He ’s pretty UP AND DOWN with us, by all they tell us. Ibid., xxiv. Miss Debby was a well-preserved, UP-AND-DOWN, positive, cheery, sprightly maiden lady of an age lying somewhere in the indeterminate region between forty and sixty.
1884. MILLIKEN, ’Arry Ballads, in Punch, 11 Oct. ‘’Arry at a Political Pic-nic.’ Went to one on ’em yesterday, Charlie; a regular old UP AND DOWN lark.
UP AND DOWN PLACE, subs. phr. (tailors’).—A shop where a cutter-out is expected to fill up his time sewing.
See UPS AND DOWNS, post.
