up sticks
idiom

- to take all the things that you own and go and live in a different place

(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

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WORD ORIGIN

There are several theories regarding the origin of this phrase, though none of them have been verified.

One suggestion is that it refers to the wooden stakes, or sticks, that gold miners planted in the ground to mark their claims. If the miner found no gold, he would then "pull up his stakes" and move to another spot to try his luck.

Another theory is that it has to do with the sticks used to tie the reins of a horse to when travelling by horse was common. Thus, to "up sticks" was to head to new pasture or camping grounds.

A BBC program about the restoration of a Scottish croft offered an alternative theory. Crofts were small houses often meant only for temporary occupation during a period of work. The frame was of rough cut, unseasoned timber, often straight from the forest. Some of the timber pieces (sticks) had to be of a special shape, such as those needed for the roof structure. These pieces were of great practical value and were taken from the croft and reused when the family moved on - thus the expression.

(sources: The Phrase Finder, "British English from A to Zed" by Norman Schur, FirstHarperPerennial edition, 1991)


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SYNONYMS

move, pull up stakes, relocate, resettle, start a new life, transfer, uproot

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PRACTICE OWAD TODAY

"The children are not excited to UP STICKS and live in a new country."


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planlos, wahllos, willkürlich, zufällig, unordentlich = W____-N____

"They were searching W____-N____ for the lost keys."

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WILLY-NILLY