# differnce between up to and up untill

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differnce-between-up-to-and-up-untill/723614>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 27, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differnce-between-up-to-and-up-untill/723614 "2015-06-27T10:20:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Reza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Reza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reza)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differnce-between-up-to-and-up-untill/723614/1 "2015-06-27T10:20:05Z")

</div>

Picasso’s early works - **up until** about 1930 - generally fetch higher prices than his late work, which is much more uneven.

1- How would the sentence mean differently if it was read - . . . until about 1930 - . . . "

2- what does " is much more uneven." mean? { what I get is: " is not much more regular". am I right?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differnce-between-up-to-and-up-untill/723614/2 "2015-06-27T11:17:05Z")

</div>

> [@Reza](#):
>
> How would the sentence mean differently if it was read - . . . until about 1930 - . . . "

_Until about 1930_, _up to about 1930_, and _up until about 1930_ are essentially identical in meaning.

> [@Reza](#):
>
> what does " is much more uneven." mean? { what I get is: " is not much more regular". am I right?

That’s right. I’d say “is much less regular”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differnce-between-up-to-and-up-untill/723614/3 "2015-06-29T10:38:35Z")

</div>

The until question has been answered. “Up to” is different only in that it has wider application - it can be used for monetary figures, for example, where up until cannot be used, because that’s only for dates or other phrases to do with time.

More uneven, in this context, sometimes means that the styles are less easy to detect or, most likely, that the quality of the work is sometimes not as good as before.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differnce-between-up-to-and-up-untill/723614/4 "2015-06-29T12:14:28Z")

</div>

It may be that the quality of Picasso’s later works are uneven, or it may just be that the value of the works are uneven. The earlier works may be more uniformly pleasing to the general public’s eye.