Catching "up" with my friend, Ray

Ray Blockus, a good friend and fellow copy editor for many years at The Times Leader newspaper, where I worked for more than 17 years, recently read some of my blog posts and responded with an email about his “favorite” unnecessary word. Here’s what Ray had to say in the way only Ray can say it:

“As for one of my pet peeves, in a word, the most overused and unnecessary word is up. … People need to know that up is a two-letter word that indicates direction. Rooms need not be cleaned UP. The leaves need not be raked UP. The car need not be started UP. I'm certain that you are well aware of those things, and I realize that I'm not the first - or only - one to object to the overuse of up. But, before I die, I hope my crusade against that little invader of good writing has succeeded in eliminating its overuseivesness and unnecessariessness forever and ever, to wit, that it stops turning UP in seemingly everything I read and hear. Perhaps you wish to follow UP on this?”

Thanks, Ray, for keeping me up on something everyone should be cracking down on – or should I say on which everyone should be cracking up?