on the up-and-up
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See also: on the up and up
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
US origin, 19th c.[1] This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Adjective[edit]
- (informal) Legitimate; honest; upright.
- Synonyms: above board, bona fide
- Before paying any money, make sure the organization is on the up-and-up.
- 1934, John O'Hara, Appointment in Samarra, published 2013, →ISBN, page 165:
- You double-cross me, you son of a bitch. I bet English gave you a sawbuck so he could take her out and give her a jump, and you sit back there collecting fifty bucks from me becuss[sic] I'm sap enough to think you're on the up-and-up with me.
- 2013, Kate Collins, Seed No Evil, Penguin, →ISBN:
- “Which you also have to order from his Web site, I'm betting. Are you sure this doctor is on the up-and-up?” “He wrote a book, Abs. Of course he's on the up-and-up.”
Translations[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Eric Partridge (2005) “up”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volumes 2 (J–Z), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 2039.