"STAHLKE, HERBERT F" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Clever, but note that we can’t say “The Giants washed the Patriots all up” with anything but a literal meaning. Grandmother might say, "Go wash up for dinner". The idiom has to be passive, as is the idiom below. Herb .brad.05feb08. Brad Johnston [log in to unmask] wrote: They are not my sentences, by the way, so don't blame me for "After I _______ (do) the washing-up". That's an expression a New York Giant might use today, since the Patriots are now all washed up. --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/