stuck up

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1
  1. Stick up to your principles. (active voice)
  2. Don’t be so stuck-up.(passive voice)
  3. I got stuck up. (passive voice)
  4. I got stuck up in traffic jam. (passive voice)
    Please explain each sentence with its meaning.
2

Some of your sentences are incorrect. Here are the correct versions and their meanings:

  1. Stick to your principles. - stay true to what you believe.
  2. Don’t be so stuck-up. - Don’t be so aloof and full of self-importance.
  3. I got stuck. - I reached a point where I failed to make any progress.
  4. I got stuck in a traffic jam. - I got caught in queues of stationary or slow moving traffic (and thus failed to make any progress).
3
  1. I got stuck up in traffic jam.
  2. I got stuck in traffic jam.
    What is the difference in meaning between the above two sentences?
4

They are both incorrect.

I got stuck in a traffic jam.

The phrasal verb ‘stuck up’ does not work at all in this context.

5

Both sentences “I got stuck up in traffic jam and I got stuck in a traffic Jam” are correct but got stuck up is effective!!

6

Beeesneees,
What is the meaning for : “He got stuck up.”?

7

That is also wrong, as I pointed out in message #2.

8

Beeesneees,

  1. They stuck the bank up and stole tens of thousands.
  2. I got stuck up in traffic. (= I was robbed in a traffic jam.)
    I got the first example from usingenglish.com and
    the second example from english-test.net where Alan replied like that.
    Are they not OK?
    If they are OK, “He got stuck up.” should mean “He was robbed or attacked”.
    Am I not correct? Please enlighten me?
9

Use of the phrasal verb ‘stuck up’ is wrong in this context.

10

They are not OK as far as I am concerned.

  1. I found your original example here,
    usingenglish.com/reference/p … ck+up.html
    but I would argue that the phrase ‘stuck up’ should not be separated in that context. The sentence sounds extremely poor to me.

  2. I cannot find any such reply from Alan, but presume you mean this reply from Yankee:
    STUCK UP

In that message Yankee was pointing out the sense of what had been written. However, what had been written was not good usage. I doubt that Yankee had any serious intentions of indicating that anyone should use that phrase.

I cannot accept those sentences. I’d like to hear what other native English speakers think.

11

So Beeesneees, should I subcribe to your teachings that stuck-up means being allof and self-importance?.Whereas Yankee also explains it to meant ‘robbed’. And also can I use it always with the hyphen present between the ‘stuck’ and ‘up’?. Or the two interpretations could be used depending on the context. Thanks

12

‘A stick-up’ is slang for a robbery. However there are limited times when it would be used, and ‘I got stuck up’ or ‘I was stuck up’ is not appropriate in those terms. This is traditionally hyphenated.
‘To be stuck up’ is to be aloof and self-important.