# Please educate me on the expression "up in here" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-educate-me-on-the-expression-up-in-here/558015 "2010-10-22T15:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-educate-me-on-the-expression-up-in-here/558015/21 "2010-10-23T02:13:22Z")
Doc, I got this funny feeling…right up in _here_. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-educate-me-on-the-expression-up-in-here/558015/22 "2010-10-23T02:31:43Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Doc, I got this funny feeling…right up in _here_. Then don’t be doin’ that, fool. Shee-it. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-educate-me-on-the-expression-up-in-here/558015/23 "2010-10-23T02:44:29Z")
Great, now this thread has got me bouncin again, Bouncin again, bounce-bouncin again ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-educate-me-on-the-expression-up-in-here/558015/24 "2010-10-23T02:58:52Z")
Funny people. > [@Zeldar](#): > > Where is the place (or places) referred to in the current usage? “Up” doesn’t refer to the place, it refers to the people involved. > [@Hello\_Again](#): > > BTW “up” as an intensifier is also seen in “up in my face” which describes a situation in which a person has confronted you on a particular issue (perhaps, without justification). It means exactly the same thing as saying a person “got in your face” about the subject, just more so. Right. _Up_ means active, aroused, energized, focused, like starting _up_ an engine. You put your guard up. If somebody bothers you, you may get either your dander or your ire up. Being in somebody’s face is confrontational, but up in somebody’s face is flat-out asking for a fight. Being in a nightclub means you’re there, but up in the club means you’re really on the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-educate-me-on-the-expression-up-in-here/558015/25 "2010-10-23T11:14:47Z")
Thanks for that spin on it, **spark240** , and an angle I hadn’t considered for some usages. However, there do seem to be usages that imply some elevated position held by the speaker, and it’s those where the “exalted position” is vague or puzzling. This may be an imagined situation, but it’s not too far from some I can almost remember: Plaintiff: This gal ran off with my man and my gold watch. Defendant: Ain’t done it. He wasn’t your man and that watch ain’t even gold. Judge: Y’all need to get a story I can believe up in here. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-educate-me-on-the-expression-up-in-here/558015/26 "2010-10-23T11:43:54Z")
I like using it in this way: Doctor: Now can you tell me where the pain is located? Me (making a circular gesture around face): All up in this area here, Doctor. All up in here! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-educate-me-on-the-expression-up-in-here/558015.md?page=1)