Separable Verbs Don’t Have to be Logical

rogersgeorge on November 14th, 2021

I like comics that feature grammarians, though I think he’s overdoing it a bit here.

https://www.gocomics.com/candorville/2021/10/16

“Tie up” and “tie down,” for example, are both idiomatic, and they have different meanings, but neither is exactly precise.

Can you think of any other separable verbs that technically don’t make sense? Put your list in the comments.

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Rogers George has been a technical writer for more than 20 years. He has written on subjects as diverse as outhouse assembly, restaurant reviews, software, information security, and scientific equipment. He has his own writing consultancy and is always happy to discuss writing and grammar. Drop him a line at curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.

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