# "Red up" as a synonum for "tidy up" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2001, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538 "2001-03-02T19:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/1 "2001-03-02T19:45:42Z")
My grandmother (b. around 1900) and other people about her age used to use the term “red up” for “tidy up” - i.e., if a room were untidy, she’d say “we need to red up this room”. This was in a rural area of Southern Ontario - just south of Owen Sound for those who know the region. As far as I could ever tell, this usage was fairly confined. But then, I later had a friend from Pittsburgh who one day used the term “red up” in this context - which was the first time I had ever a) heard someone my age use it and b) heard someone from somewhere else use it. He said the term was fairly common - but probably more so among older people. Two questions: a) is/was this used in other regions of North America? b) does anyone know how “red up” came to mean “tidy up”? D18 ---
**Author:** ![idiotboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@idiotboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/idiotboy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/2 "2001-03-02T20:03:23Z")
a). I laugh at my fiancee every time she says it’s time to “red up”. She’s from rural Ohio. b). I’m guessing it’s short for re_a_d_y_ up, as in readying a room for company. Maybe then it should be spelled “read up” but pronounced in passive form “red”? c). Hi Opal! I always thought, the way she pronounced it, it was “ret” up…I could have been hallucinating, though… ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/3 "2001-03-02T20:52:49Z")
From [The Word Detective](http://www.word-detective.com/121800.html#reddup): > [@](#): > > While you don’t mention exactly where you grew up, if your grandmother routinely told you to “redd up” your room, there’s a statistical probability that either you were living in, or your grandmother was from, Pennsylvania. “Redd up,” meaning “to clear or clean up,” arrived in America with immigrants from Scotland and northern England, and while Scots settled all over the eastern US, the phrase seems to be most commonly heard today, for some reason, in Pennsylvania. > > The root of “redd” (which by itself means “to clear or clean”) seems to be a combination of the Middle English and Scots dialectical word “redden” (meaning “to free or clear an area”) with another Middle English word, “reden,” meaning “to rescue or free from.” The same tangle of roots gave us the word “rid,” and is closely related to the word “ready.” And none of this, by the way, has anything to do with the color “red.” The expression is related to _ready_ but doesn’t come directly from the word, as I used to think as well. Whenever I see or hear this, I always think of the _In Living Color_ character who would say, “I’m redd to go.” ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/4 "2001-03-02T21:02:19Z")
And from [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com): > [@](#): > > Regional Note: The terms redd and redd up came to the American Midlands from the many Scottish immigrants who settled there. Meaning “to clear an area or to make it tidy,” redd is still used in Scotland and Northern Ireland; in the United States it is especially common in Pennsylvania as the phrasal verb redd up. The term, which goes back to Old Norse rydhja, can be traced from the 15th century to the present, particularly in dialects of Scotland and the North of England. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/5 "2001-03-03T02:41:31Z")
I grew up in rural northwest Ohio. I never heard the term used in my family, but in high school once in a class someone mentioned the word. It appeared that most of the people in the class used or had at least heard the term used at home. The way they pronounced it sounded more like “rid up” (although given how long ago this was, I might be misremembering). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/6 "2001-03-03T02:56:33Z")
The term must be older than we think, and not confined to North America. I was reading Jane Eyre in high school, and towards the end, after Jane has been reunited with Edward Rochester(he’s been blinded), she helps to trim and comb his hair. “There, sir, you are all redd up and made decent” she tells him. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/7 "2001-03-03T21:00:38Z")
The first chapter of Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson, speaks of “the gear redd up and the house disposed of”. The person is speaking of cleaning up everything after David Balfour, the protagonist of the novel, has had his father die and leave him a small inheritance. So it must have been Scottish to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![indea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7bcc69/32.png) [@indea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indea)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/8 "2012-06-20T17:35:49Z")
I’m from central Ohio and heard the term many times. I believe it really comes from Gaelic; for example reidh in Irish has a similar meaning. Scott and Irish Gaelic are similar. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/9 "2012-06-20T19:36:32Z")
Western Pennsylvanian. This term is often touted as an example of Pittsburghese. Though I, a native Pittsburgher, never heard the term until I moved east of the city into a more rural area. People use it a lot here. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/10 "2012-06-20T20:03:58Z")
My in-laws, both native Pittsburghers who have lived there all their lives, use “redd up” frequently. My wife, who basically left Pittsburgh during her college years, does not use it at all. And to answer your next question - yes, even though my wife has been gone from Pittsburgh for many years, she’s still a member of the Steeler Nation. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/11 "2012-06-20T21:43:10Z")
> [@idiotboy](#): > > a). I laugh at my fiancee every time she says it’s time to “red up”. She’s from rural Ohio. > > b). I’m guessing it’s short for re_a_d_y_ up, as in readying a room for company. Maybe then it should be spelled “read up” but pronounced in passive form “red”? > > c). Hi Opal! > I always thought, the way she pronounced it, it was “ret” up…I could have been hallucinating, though… Why laugh at your fiancee when she uses a word you are not familiar with? Sounds rather disrespectful to me. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/12 "2012-06-20T22:33:06Z")
I’m from Northern Ireland and that word is still used frequently here and in that context. “Come on, it’s time to redd the place up” Though I never thought of how it was spelled before, its just one of quite a few _(a brave wheen of)_ words and phrases that are still in common usage here and in my opinion are a loss to the language if they aren’t used elsewhere. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mage-girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mage-girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mage-girl)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/13 "2012-06-21T01:28:36Z")
I’ve noticed the author Beverly Lewis use the term “redd up” in her Amish romances. Several of them are set in the present-day or nearly so. I can’t remember the geographical area they’re set in, however. Sorry. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/14 "2012-06-21T02:28:09Z")
“redd-up” only appears from the 19th century, but the verb “redd” as well as the noun, both referreing to cleaning up or clearing out, go back in Scots/Northern English/Irish to the 1400s. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/15 "2012-06-21T03:02:25Z")
Amish romances? Good Christ, I hope the Mayans were right. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/16 "2012-06-21T04:00:26Z")
I grew up in an Anabaptist community (not Amish/Mennonite, but coming from the same traditions), and heard about redding enough to find it completely unremarkable, though my parents never used the phrase. I remember reading a short story in an American literature class in college that used redd up, and had a footnote with the definition. I couldn’t imagine who didn’t know what that meant, and was very surprised in class when it came up and the answer was “nearly everyone.” ---
**Author:** ![shinbikkuri3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@shinbikkuri3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shinbikkuri3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/17 "2013-03-30T03:19:27Z")
Reading “That Hideous Strength” by C.S. Lewis (noted Philologist) one finds in Chapter 9 The Saracen’s Head, Section 3: > [@](#): > > And what’s happening now, if the Director’s views are correct, is that their own respectable kith and kin are visiting this planet to red the place up. This quote is attributed to the character MacPhee, an Ulsterman (mistaken by many to be Scotch). The book was published in 1943 and one may safely assume that Lewis made a deliberate decision to include this speech to give the image he desired. More support for the references posted earlier. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/18 "2013-03-31T19:30:01Z")
I’m originally from southeastern Pennsylvania (Lancaster County) and heard and used “redd up” frequently while I was growing up. It seems to have come into English from Scottish, and before that from Old Norse - Norwegian, for example, still has the verb “rydde” which means exactly the same as “redd up”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/19 "2013-04-01T03:41:39Z")
Never heard it. Grew up in Texas and lived in the Southwest and Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538/20 "2013-04-01T13:12:33Z")
My dad uses it occasionally - he’s 59 and Scottish. And I’m pretty sure I’ve heard other Scottish people use it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-up-as-a-synonum-for-tidy-up/56538.md?page=2)