Idioms using "up"

[Kingaroo]

There are plenty of them in English -- clean up, call up, write up, lock up, fix up, open up, close up, etc. I remember reading somewhere that they are related to German verbs that use the prefix "ab" in a similar way. I cannot think of a single example since what little German I ever had is long gone. Can anyone provide more information?

[kettledrum]

The German prefix 'ab' means off or away, so most verbs with the separable prefix 'ab' have that sort of meaning;

fahren - to travel: abfahren - to depart - ie to travel away
drehen - to turn: abdrehen - to turn off
smeltzen - to melt; abschmeltzen - to melt away
rufen- to call: abrufen- to call away
verabschieden - to say goodbye...... etc or usw

but waschen - to wash: abwaschen - do the washing-up absaugen - to hoover up ( a Staubsauger is a vacuum cleaner)

You may be thinking of 'auf';
aufbauen - to put up ie to erect
aufkl�ren - to clear up ie to explain
aufstehen - to stand up
aufsteigen - to climb up etc

But auf can also be used in an off / down / away / 'un' type way ( ie screw / unscrew / aufschrauben )...it's a v complicated language.!
Do you want to know anything specific?

[Kingaroo]

Do I remember correctly that the "ab" can be separated from the root verb by several other words, for example,

ab the dishes left from lunch and breakfast waschen

That is similar to what we sometimes do with english

Pick the dry cleaning and groceries up


In english a lot of those "ups" could be left out without changing the meaning. Not when you're turning the music up as opposed to down, because that is a meaningful distinction, but you could leave the UP off of
open up
close up
wash up
lock up
I was wondering if maybe in those cases, the verbs all paralleled german verbs that used "ab"

[dr john]

These are examples of phrasal verbs, which occur in several languages (but none as frequently as English). The link with German probably demonstrates a common linguistic root rather than direct borrowing in either direction.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/phrasal s.htm