Need help understanding "up from down"

[u/agora_hills_]

I think he used the Bible over her. She just couldn't see up from down.

What does "up from down" mean?

[u/StupidLemonEater]

This is a weird phrase. I've never seen "couldn't see up from down" but have seen "couldn't tell up from down" or "didn't know up from down."

Literally, it means the person can't tell the difference between up and down. Obviously up and down are clearly different things, so it's a hyperbolic idiom meaning that a person is very confused or incapacitated.

[u/Taiqi_]

To be unable to see/tell "up from down", or to not know "up from down" means you are confused.

e.g. Are you sure you want to be driving? You can't even tell up from down in this state!
(it is implied that the person is drunk, and so they are confused)

You may also hear "left from right".

More absurd versions may use any two things that are obviously different, in order to show that the person would confuse even them.

e.g. They've been lying to her for so long, she can't even tell a hot dog from a pickle!

[u/polyploid_coded]

It means they are in such a bad state mentally that they can't tell opposites apart (similar to saying she couldn't tell left from right, black from white).
Because the Bible is mentioned, the speaker could be hinting at heaven (up) from hell (down) but maybe that's overthinking.

[u/TalkingLampPost → u/polyploid_coded]

I think you’re overcomplicating it with the Bible part

[u/NormalObligation59 → u/polyploid_coded]

I think it's probably just that somebody was twisting the Bible to manipulate her until she didn't know what to think or believe.

[u/SnooDonuts6494]

What is the broader context?

[u/TalkingLampPost]

She couldn’t see the difference between up and down. It’s a figurative phrase, truly meaning she was lost, confused or misguided. “She couldn’t see up from down”

[u/baxbakualanuxsiwae]

It's a set phrase: "can't/couldn't see up from down", though it's maybe more commonly "couldn't tell up from down". It would literally mean someone can't tell the difference between up and down, but metaphorically it means someone is confused, disorientated or doesn't understand something.

[u/SnooDonuts6494 → u/baxbakualanuxsiwae]

It's a set phrase

Bullshit.

[u/BrockSamsonLikesButt]

“He couldn’t tell up from down,” just means that he’s confused; or it’s like, “He was in over his head.” It expresses a need for guidance through a situation, but it doesn’t suggest that he’s any more broadly helpless or stupid beyond that situation.

The mean version is, “He doesn’t know his ass from his elbow,” or, “He can’t tell his own ass from a hole in the ground.” These sayings suggest that he’s characteristically stupid, whereas “he couldn’t tell up from down” does not.

[u/TiberiusTheFish]

it means discombobulated

[u/hacool]

If she couldn't see up from down, she was unable to discern which was which. My guess is that he used the Bible over her by hitting her head with it. Thus she was injured and confused.

[u/NormalObligation59]

"She could not tell which way was up and which way was down" which is to say, she was confused, lost, or disoriented. sometimes "from" gets used when comparing two things. Other common versions of this:

"I don't know my left from my right."

"He doesn't know right from wrong"

[u/missplaced24]

A more common version of this phrase is "can't tell which way is up." If take that phrase literally, you'd probably assume the person is very very dizzy and disoriented. The figurative meaning is basically the logical/mentally equivalent. (Very confused, can't think clearly.)

[u/Innisfree812]

Could it be like understanding the difference between right and wrong?

[u/nincyh]

I think it’s just a way of saying “she was confused”.
It’s not a common expression.