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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
This is apparently standard for some people:
they were focused on chasing the Trojan Horse and losing men and resources to it that could have been used to short up their defenses
Rather than trying to short up and assist a system that seems to be declining and dying. this would provide for the students in the public system,
Reavers are attacking a space station; the PCs are trying to short up defenses and keep the station inhabitants from panicking.
Trying to short up Latino support in Texas, Obama recently released a Spanish language ad in Texas: Rough translation:
Vote for me!
it was exciting to recount how the Lord is moving in paying off our Worship Center mortgage while also bringing in generous year end gifts to short up our general fund.
the team needs to short up its defense if the Mustangs are going to challenge for a post-season berth.
At least one way this can be eggcornishly understood (there may be more) is that shorting something up is lessening the discrepancy between the actual and the desired condition of the object ― shortening (if you will) the shortfall upwards towards the ideal state of things.
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I get a strong image of strengthening a levee against a rising river or tide when I use the phrase (shore up). Do the rest of you?
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Related:
sure up < shore up ; Commentary 267 by Ian Barber here
shore term < short term ; commentary 458 by Len (not Ken¿?) Lakritz here
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2020-01-30 09:21:17)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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I find it hard to map a meaning of “short” onto “short up” that makes much sense.
To “shore up” does evoke the picture of levee. Which is interesting, since the sense of “shore” (a prop) behind “shore up” has nothing to do with the “shore” that we find in “seashore.”
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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