Help with English

Saint said:
brushing up with = improving ?
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"Brushing up on" means refreshing your memory about something, usually by practicing a skill.

For example:
"I need to brush up on my tennis before I play my boss next week."
"I need to brush up on geography before the pub quiz on Friday."

It usually implies that you haven't done something for a long time and you need to practice it to get back to your previous level of competence.

Sometimes it is used in an ironic sense, where you never really had high competence in the first place.

"Watching that Hawking documentary reminds me that I have to brush up on my knowledge of cosmology."
 
Niliambiwa na rafiki wa Kenya kwamba Kiswahili yangu ni nzuri sana. Yeye hakujua kuhusu tafsiri ya kutafsiri, nadhani. Yeye ni daktari wa kichaka. Nilimwuliza kama alikuwa mwanasayansi, lakini kulikuwa na kizuizi kidogo cha kitamaduni huko.

What fun! :p
 
James R said:
"Brushing up on" means refreshing your memory about something, usually by practicing a skill.

For example:
"I need to brush up on my tennis before I play my boss next week."
"I need to brush up on geography before the pub quiz on Friday."

It usually implies that you haven't done something for a long time and you need to practice it to get back to your previous level of competence.

Sometimes it is used in an ironic sense, where you never really had high competence in the first place.

"Watching that Hawking documentary reminds me that I have to brush up on my knowledge of cosmology."
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The origin of the phrase seems to be from the practice of brushing a top hat or a coat to remove dust and dirt and make the nap uniform and smart before putting it on. So it is a metaphor.

So I think strictly you should brush up your Urdu or cosmology rather than brushing up "on" it. Anyway definitely not brushing up "with", as Saint was wondering. That does not make sense as a metaphor.
 
According to various dictionaries, the "on" is apparently optional when you brush up. Usage might differ on opposite sides of the pond.
 
You need something after the "brush up", whether that be on, my, your, on my, on your etc.
You can't just say "I need to brush up maths" but rather "I need to brush up (on) my maths".
There's a Cole Porter song from Kiss Me Kate called "Brush Up Your Shakespeare". It wouldn't really work in that instance as "Brush Up On Your Shakespeare". :)
But yeah, the "on" is entirely optional, but there seem some occasions when its usage feels better than leaving it out.
 
The bar for what to expect from single-socket, consumer-facing processors has been raised once again with Intel demoing a 28-core monster at this year’s Computex show. Easily capable of outstripping its existing top-of-the-line Core i9-7980XE, the CPU is slated for release later this year.

is slated for = means what?
Why "slate"?
 
Sarkus said:
You need something after the "brush up", whether that be on, my, your, on my, on your etc.
You can't just say "I need to brush up maths" but rather "I need to brush up (on) my maths".
There's a Cole Porter song from Kiss Me Kate called "Brush Up Your Shakespeare". It wouldn't really work in that instance as "Brush Up On Your Shakespeare". :)
But yeah, the "on" is entirely optional, but there seem some occasions when its usage feels better than leaving it out.
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Yes one brushes up one's something-or-other, usually. This fits the original metaphor of the hat or coat.
 
Saint said:
The bar for what to expect from single-socket, consumer-facing processors has been raised once again with Intel demoing a 28-core monster at this year’s Computex show. Easily capable of outstripping its existing top-of-the-line Core i9-7980XE, the CPU is slated for release later this year.

is slated for = means what?
Why "slate"?
Click to expand...
The meaning of "slated for" is "scheduled for".
The idea, I think, stems from businesses where a delivery schedule, for example, would be written on a large slate board (blackboard type thing) for the workforce to see, and hence a certain delivery would be "slated" for a certain time. That sort of thing.
 
Saint said:
copulation = intercourse
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yes but
intercourse has a broader meaning
communication or dealings between individuals or groups.
chatting, for instance
right now, you and I are engaged in intercourse

copulation would be sexual intercourse
 
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James R said:
According to various dictionaries, the "on" is apparently optional when you brush up. Usage might differ on opposite sides of the pond.
Click to expand...

i wonder if the "on" may have a social relationship to development along side technology.
the "on" being a sense of awarenes of common folk with machines and devices where the self has become more of a subject of observation, as the mind increases its ability to quantify differing perspectives.
 
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