# Origin of \*noun\* term "send up," as a satirical/mocking commentary on a subject? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726 "2007-06-04T17:53:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726/1 "2007-06-04T17:53:24Z")
This Q was inspired by a PBS documentary about Broadway musicals I was watching last night. “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” was described as a send up of 1960s corporate culture. I got to thinking, “send up” is an odd term. I know what it means, I just wondered where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726/2 "2007-06-04T18:17:08Z")
[The Mavens’ Word of the Day](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970716) > [@](#): > > The expression send-up is first found in the late 1950s in British English. It is a nominalization of the verb phrase to send up ‘to burlesque; satirize; parody’, a Britishism from around 1930. ---
**Author:** ![SetApart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SetApart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SetApart)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726/3 "2007-06-05T06:04:31Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] [The Mavens’ Word of the Day](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970716) [/QUOTE] If I may say so, that is among the most worthless “Word of the Day” I’ve ever seen. (That’s not a jab at you, Exapno, but at that site.) They admittedly answered the OP’s question, but in most cases people would be looking for the overall origin of the phrase, both in its noun and verb forms. So where does the VERB phrase “to send up” come from? It seems that the OP might know, what with his/her emphasis on “noun”. Now I’m curious! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726/4 "2007-06-05T09:14:51Z")
Maybe it is similar to the use of ‘wind up’ for teasing. Where that brings to mind winding someone up, like a clock, to a point of tense frustration, maybe to ‘send up’ refers to metaphorically sending the victim up a blind alley, or on a wild goose chase in an irritating manner. Just WAGging. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726/5 "2007-06-05T12:12:55Z")
The OED offers very little more by way of enlightenment other than the first known citation. > [@](#): > > 1931 T. R. G. LYELL Slang, Phrase & Idiom in Colloq. Eng. 673 The last time he came in, he was sent up unmercifully by half the room. I suspect the origin to this one can be marked, “file with _the whole nine yards_”. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726/6 "2007-06-05T14:28:30Z")
[QUOTE=SetApart] So where does the VERB phrase “to send up” come from? It seems that the OP might know, what with his/her emphasis on “noun”. Now I’m curious! 🙂 [/QUOTE] Nope, not me. When I specified the noun meaning, I meant as opposed to the literal, \*non-theatrical \* verb meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726/7 "2007-06-05T16:49:58Z")
[QUOTE=SetApart] If I may say so, that is among the most worthless “Word of the Day” I’ve ever seen. (That’s not a jab at you, Exapno, but at that site.) They admittedly answered the OP’s question, but in most cases people would be looking for the overall origin of the phrase, both in its noun and verb forms. So where does the VERB phrase “to send up” come from? It seems that the OP might know, what with his/her emphasis on “noun”. Now I’m curious! 🙂 [/QUOTE] Yeah, I was disappointed too. But it was the only answer that came up. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-noun-term-send-up-as-a-satirical-mocking-commentary-on-a-subject/406726/8 "2007-06-05T22:21:12Z")
[QUOTE=SetApart] If I may say so, that is among the most worthless “Word of the Day” I’ve ever seen. (That’s not a jab at you, Exapno, but at that site.) They admittedly answered the OP’s question, but in most cases people would be looking for the overall origin of the phrase, both in its noun and verb forms. So where does the VERB phrase “to send up” come from? It seems that the OP might know, what with his/her emphasis on “noun”. Now I’m curious! 🙂 [/QUOTE] Agreed. Nominalization of noun phrases is very common in English, cf. the unrelated “send off”.