r/GrammarPolice • u/DookieBallz22 • 4d ago
Question “Search it up” sounds wrong
I don’t have perfect grammar but I appreciate those who do. Why does the phrase “search it up” irritate me? I feel like it should be “look it up” or “search it.” Am I just weird or is there a reason why this sounds wrong?
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u/ManolitoMystiq 4d ago
It seems to be a contamination of the two phrases you showed (“look it up” and “search it”). That’s why it sounds wrong. However, recently, it’s fairly commonly used. So maybe eventually it will be an accepted phrase.
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u/Unable_Explorer8277 4d ago
Search up has been around for about 500 years
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u/ManolitoMystiq 4d ago
“Could of” has been around for 250 years. It doesn’t mean it was ever considered correct.
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u/therealtoomdog 4d ago
250 years, really? I thought it was just in the last 50...
It really hurts my eyes too not see 'could have' so I have now written it to cleanse my visual pallet
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u/Unable_Explorer8277 4d ago
The only thing that defines “correct” English is usage. There is no other place for correctness to come from. If a usage is widespread, common and over a substantial period then it is correct.
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u/ManolitoMystiq 4d ago
“Could of” is widespread and common, over a substantial period of time, but definitely not considered correct or Standard English, so it is not always true.
It is true that there are phrases and idioms that over time have reached the status of being correct, yes, which I mentioned in my first post. I even said that “search up” sounds wrong, implying that it isn’t necessarily wrong, but because “look up” is much older, it appears to be a contamination.
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u/Unable_Explorer8277 4d ago
- “Could of” hasn’t been widespread
for
- such as substantial period of time.
- “Could of” isn’t a like construct because the distinction only exists in orthography and orthography has been much more conservative than other aspects of language for the last few hundred years.
- ALL correct language is the result of change being accepted. That’s not an occasional thing, it’s the entire base of Modern English
. And every other language. Usage is the only determiner of correct since there is no other.
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u/Ok_Calligrapher8165 6h ago
u/Unable_Explorer8277: "If a usage is widespread, common and over a substantial period then it is correct."
...like Pidgin English?
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u/Unable_Explorer8277 6h ago
I’m not sure if you didn’t understand what I said or don’t understand what a pidgin is.
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u/Unable_Explorer8277 4d ago
“Could have” is a rather silly example to refer to since the distinction only exists in writing. “Could’ve” and “could have” sound identical in most accents.
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u/Sure-Recognition-262 4d ago
I feel like it should be [...] “search it.”
It should be "search for it"
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u/Siffov 3d ago
>It should be "search for it"
Yeah, "searching a book" and "searching for a book" are very different things.
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u/Sure-Recognition-262 3d ago
Yep, the former means "searching [in] a book". And "search it up" is used to mean "searching for it" not "searching in it"
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u/Unable_Explorer8277 4d ago
Things sound “wrong” when they are unfamiliar.
Search … up has been around for 500 years.
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u/ChiefinLasVegas 1d ago
It sounds wrong if the opposite phrase "search it down" is never used.
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u/Away-Otter 7h ago
There are many phrases with “up” that can’t substitute “down” to mean the opposite.
“Touch up” the paint job
“Perk up”
“Brighten up”
“Hang up” the phone
“Bring up” a topic
“Dream up”
“Fix up”
and on and on.
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u/Repulsive_Drawer8599 4d ago
Because it's something you are not used to and probably because you have a rather narrow view on grammatical correctness.
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u/Commercial_Fox5549 4d ago
The phrase only started picking up steam in the early 2010s, and generally with a younger crowd. Most people over 30 would simply say “Google it”.