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Up sticks

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pussycat | 14:16 Fri 07th May 2004 | Phrases & Sayings
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Where is the saying 'up sticks' derived from?
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Avatar Image Quizmonster
In the early 1800s, one meaning of 'stick' was a ship's 'mast'. Hence, to 'up sticks' was to raise your masts in preparation for departure.
14:43 Fri 07th May 2004
Avatar Image TommyC
Hmmm... I always thought it was from Cricket. At the end of the match, you pull the wicket stumps up, and it's time to move on.
12:22 Sat 08th May 2004
Avatar Image Quizmonster
There are some idioms in which the word 'sticks' refers to the wickets in cricket...'a great player behind the sticks' = a good wicket-keeper...a player with an injured foot might be said to be 'slow between the sticks' etc. But 'up sticks' isn't one of them...at least it isn't according to The Oxford English Dictionary, generally recognised as the 'bible' of the history/development of English words/phrases. It is quite clear on the nautical origin of the phrase.
18:42 Sat 08th May 2004

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