Not a Word Peeve: Whither and Whence

 After having discussed who and whom, I have some locational (toponymic?) words to discuss briefly.

When's the right time to use here, hither, and hence? In the 21st Century, nobody even says hither and hence anymore. They are practically ancient history. 

Likewise with where, whither, and whence; and there, thither, and thence.

Here's the rule of thumb:

• The -ither ending conveys a sense of to.
• The -ence ending conveys a sense of from.

To beat this dead horse into a bloody pulp:

hither = to here

hence = from here

whither = to where

whence = from where

thither = to there

thence = from there

So when a woman bats her eyes and gives you "a come-hither look" she wants you over there next to her.

And when someone says "We're taking the train to Dorset, and thence to Southampton," they're saying that the second leg of the journey leaves from Dorset.

And this dialogue could have been lifted straight from The Lord of the Rings:

"Whence have you come hither, and whither are you going?"

"We spent the night in Rohan, and we departed thence at dawn's first light. We are in search of the road to Gondor. for we are journeying thither."

One interesting variation is the use of "hence" meaning "therefore". It signals that the you're using the last assertion or statement as the jumping-off point for the next one.

Another interesting variation is "henceforth" meaning "from now on, moving forward."

Not a Word Peeve, Just Fun: "Who" versus "Whom"

This one is just for fun. I am aware that this information is as useful as cursive writing in this century. Still, it's fun to know, and it may be marginally useful.

In modern English, the distinction between "who" and "whom" is disappearing, with "who" replacing "whom" in almost all usages. Want to learn how to use who/whom correctly? Read on.

James Thurber's rule of thumb

It was author and humorist James Thurber who said, in 1929, that the difference between "who" and "whom" is how high-class you want to sound. For example, if you're at a picnic with beer and hotdogs and shorts and Hawaiian shirts, and you meet someone new, you ask them, "Who are you, anyways?" However, if you're at a fancy black-tie reception with cocktails and caviar, and you meet someone new, you ask them "Whom are you, anyways?" 

And yes, he put the "s" on "anyways". Because he was James Thurber, and the year was 1929.

My rule of thumb

Anyway(s), the real distinction between "who" and "whom" is easy to manage. Since "who" and "whom" are usually (but not always) used in questions, the easiest thing to do is rearrange the question into an answer, and try plugging in "he" or "him" in place of "who/whom". If "he" fits, then use "who". If "him" fits, then use "whom."

To repeat: 

• "He" to "who".
• "Him" to "whom".

Two examples

"Who/whom are you going with?" Rearrange it to form the answer "You are going with ..." Obviously, the correct ending for this answer is "him". So use "Whom" in the question.

"Who/whom is going with you?" This one doesn't even need to be rearranged. The answer is obviously "He is going with you." So use "Who" in the question.

Another example, not a question

Since this example uses the plural "those", we will use "they" and "them" instead of "he" and "him". The rule of thumb works the same way.

"Plan on spending the holiday with those whom you love, and who love you." This is the correct usage.

"Whom you love" can be rearranged to "You love them".

"Who love you" can be rearranged to "They love you".

In conclusion, your Honor ...

As I said at the beginning, which one you use really doesn't matter, not in the 21st Century. It's just fun to know.

Welllllll, maybe.

It doesn't matter one whit in spoken English. But I think that in written English, it may move you one step closer to more precise speech.

Word peeve: Just really kind of

 I've noticed this in grown adults who should really know better.

I've seen it in print, and I've heard it in speech.

Best to illustrate by example: "When I saw it, I just really kind of shuddered."

That sentence contains three modifiers:

1. Just
2. Really
3. Kind of

Pick one. Leave the other two alone.

Word Peeve: Case in Point

 I'm not sure about its origin, but the phrase "case in point" sounds like a legal term, something that originated in a courtroom or a lawyer's brief.

Here's an example of its usage. Please don't debate me on the content of the example. I'm only using it to illustrate the usage of "case in point".

Too many students are getting away with violent behavior, and we've already started down the slippery slope that will end in real tragedy. Case in point: last week a teacher was knocked unconscious and savagely beaten by a 17-year-old student who had been arrested three times previously for assault.

"Case in point" can be interpreted as "Here's a case which illustrates the point I was trying to make." Note that the colon is important. A comma won't do. I'm serious here.

Why do so many people mistakenly say or write "case and point"? "Case and point" makes absolutely no sense. It sounds dumb.

Today I saw something even dumber. It appeared on Reddit, and it was used, ironically, by someone who is expected to know how English really works. What did they write? "Point and case, ..." 

For more information: If you're still reading this, here's an article about the origin and usage of "case in point". 

 - - -

Bonus peeve: earlier this week, I also read the phrase "for all intensive purposes," from someone else whom we expect to know English better than they do.

Word Peeve: Cue vs. Queue vs. Que

I've noticed a new fingernails-screeching-on-chalkboard trend in the written word, both on paper and in electronic media.

It doesn't happen with the spoken word, because all three of the words involved are pronounced the same.

Here's the situation.

Consider someone telling a story, and then writing a sentence like this:

"Queue the angry customer."

Here's the issue.

Cue is the word you're looking for. It's a stage direction. It's used in plays, movies, and newscasts. It's a signal for someone to take their place onstage or to speak their line, for example. It's also used to call for a sound effect, a spotlight, a brass band, and so on.

Queue means to stand in line, or to form a line -- a queue of people, waiting for something, like boarding passes at an airport.

Que is an alternative spelling of queue, useful in Scrabble.

Word Peeve: "Myself" and other reflexive pronouns

I'm here today to talk about the practice of using "myself" instead of "I" or "me".

I'm tempted to blame this one on the officious, pompous, pseudo-authoritarian, petty tyrants on the front lines of the Transportation Security Agency, because I've heard them commit this assault on the English language more than anybody else. But that may not be fair; they may have picked up the practice from other officious, pompous sources.

We need to start by reviewing first, second, and third person, because reflexive pronouns don't make sense unless you understand this simple concept.

Then we need to quickly review subject and object pronouns, followed by reflexive pronouns.

Don't worry; this is a quick and easy read. It will help you avoid sounding like a clod, a boor, a petty tyrant, or a TSA agent.

First, second, and third person

Remember learning about first, second, and third person? What?? You never learned about them?

Okay. Here's a quick review.

First person: "I" and "me"

Imagine you're marooned on a desert island -- not even a volleyball to keep you company. There's only one person on the island. And every time you talk about that person, you use the pronoun "I". 

• "I'm hungry."
• "I need to go to the bathroom."
• "I am all alone."
• "That snake bit me!"

Second person: "You" -- just "you"

Imagine somebody else washes up on the island. Now there are two people. You were there first, so you are the first person. The other castaway got there second, so they are the second person. Every time you talk about that person, you use the pronoun "you".

• "Where did you come from?"
• "Phew! You stink!"
• "Here, let me fix that for you."

Third person: "he/she" and "him/her"

Imagine that yet another castaway washes up on the island. Now there are three people. The newcomer is the third person. When you address the newcomer directly, you use the pronoun "you", just as before. But when you are talking about the newcomer to the second person that showed up, you use the pronoun "he", "she", "him", "her", or "it" as appropriate.

• "Is it even human?"
• "She looks like she's dying of thirst."
• "He has fish bites all over him!"
• "Quick, let's get her out of the sun."

What about when you have to combine them?

When you are talking about more than one person at a time, the order always goes third, then second, then first. This is not a rule of grammar as much as it is a rule of centuries of common courtesy.

• "You and I are gonna have fun together!"
• "He and you both have the same sneakers." (This one has evolved over time, and "You and he both have the same sneakers" sounds less awkward than it used to.)
• "Can he and I go out to play?"

We'll skip plural pronouns for now, like "they", "them", and "us".

Enough about persons. Now let's talk about types of pronouns.

Subject, object and reflexive pronouns

Subject pronouns

Pronouns can be subject pronouns, used as the subject of a sentence. The subject pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.

Examples of subject pronouns.

• "Mom, can I go to the store?" 
• "John and I were best friends."
• "You are ugly."
• "He did it!"

Object pronouns

Pronouns can be object pronouns, used as anything except the subject of a sentence. The object pronouns are: me, you, him, her, it, us, them.

Examples of object pronouns:

• "Give the bowl of ramen to her."
• "Jeff punched him in the nose."
• "You don't like me? Sob"
• "The wave washed them out to sea."

Reflexive pronouns

This takes us to reflexive pronouns. Pronouns can be reflexive pronouns, when they reflect back on the person or thing that is the subject of the sentence. The reflexive pronouns are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Examples of reflexive pronounces:

• "Ouch! I poked myself in the eye!"
• "It's my birthday, so I'm giving this gift to myself."
• "Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! Heeheehee"
• "Why is Matt saluting himself in the mirror?"
• "And so the wave falls in on itself."

The Criminal Misuse of Reflexive Pronouns

The reflexive pronouns seem to be abused the most by people in positions of supposed authority, such as bureaucratic officials, low-level administrators, and TSA agents at the airport security line. Mostly, but not exclusively, petty tyrants. But they're not the only abusers.

Any use of a reflexive pronoun where the reflexive pronoun does not agree with the subject of the sentence is wrong. Wrong. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

It makes the user sound pompous and stupid.

Examples of abuse of reflexive pronouns, and what to say instead:

Wrong: "Please return all completed forms to myself."

Right: "Please return all completed forms to me."

Wrong: "Myself and my fiancé have known each other for three years."

Right: "My fiancé and I have known each other for three years."

Wrong: "By her actions, she was disrespecting myself and all other veterans."

Right: "By her actions, she was disrespecting me and all other veterans."

Wrong: "I was sick, so she did all the grocery shopping for myself."

Right: "I was sick, so she did all the grocery shopping for me."

Wrong: "Except for myself, nobody was injured."

Right: "Except for me, nobody was injured."

Better: "Nobody was injured, except for me."

Even better: "I was the only one injured."

Do it right. Don't make a fool of yourself.

Word Peeve: "stepping foot" versus "setting foot"

 Here's a recent one.

Sometime in the last 20 or 30 years, people started misusing the phrase "set foot" by subsituting "step foot" in its place.

"Step foot" seems to be a combination of "set foot" with the simple verb "step".

Usage examples of "set foot"

• "I'm never setting foot in that church again."
• "He was attacked before he could even set foot on French soil."

The phrase "set foot" implies a word like "my" or "his", or even just plain "a". It's the act of putting something, in this case a foot, in or on someplace.

• "I'm never setting (my) foot in that church again."
• "He was attacked before he could even set (a) (his) foot on French soil."
• "He was attacked before he could even set (his) foot on French soil."

Usage examples of "step"

• "I'm never stepping into that church again."
• "He was attacked before he could even step onto French soil."

"In" becomes "into" and "on" becomes "onto", but with those slight variations, "step" and "set foot" both work. "Set foot" sounds more sophisticated.

So what about "step foot"?

"Step foot" makes no logical sense. While, as I've shown, setting foot is about the same as putting a foot someplace, there is no similar construction for "step foot". Nobody says "Now, step your foot here and then step it there." People say "set your foot here", and they say "take a step here". But that's different. "Step your foot" sounds ignorant and hillbilly -- and so does the simpler "step foot".

Historical usage

As with other word peeves, I can't completely justify my position by referring to historical usage.

"Set foot" dates back to the 1600s.

"Step foot" dates back to the late 1800s. It was condemned by scholars back then then as a misuse of the original phrase, but it survived in popular usage. So even though it's still wrong, it has the weight of history behind it.

During the entire 20th Century, editors and English teachers were mostly successful in stamping out the incorrect usage, but as I pointed out, it has flourished again in the 21st Century. I think it's because the rising generation (or maybe two generations) did not receive the rigorous schooling in grammar and language that their parents and grandparents received.

Bottom line

The correct usage is "set foot" -- or, in the interest of simpler speech, "step". But don't use "step foot". It makes you sound uneducated.

About Profanity

Okay, it's time. Let's talk about profanity.

A wise man named Spencer W. Kimball used to say: 

"Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly." 

I've seen several misquotings and misrememberings, including my own version:

"Profanity is the feeble attempt of a feeble mind to express itself forcibly."

But the original will suffice for my purpose here. I am calling for a halt to the gratuitous and excessive profanity in modern discourse, and for a return to more precise speech. (If your name is Jodi, don't worry. You're safe. See the very end of this post.)

Warning: This post contains profanity. The profanity is strictly for illustrative purposes. Don't get worked up over it.

The HP Meeting

When I was a new engineer, I was sitting in a department meeting. Several people were using profanity to emphasize the points they were trying to make. It was excessive, and it was unnecessary. Being a new guy, I didn't speak up, but someone else did. He quoted SWK. But he mangled the quote. If it had been delivered accurately, it would have had the desired effect, but the mangled version was a dud.

In fact, what followed was a moment of silence, and then a bearded hippie-type guy in the back muttered, "I  don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about."

That was back in 1981, in a time when people chose their words more carefully. Even if they cussed and swore in private, they were -- except for this one meeting -- circumspect in their public speech. Over the years, and through many different jobs, I have attended meetings where someone would let slip a cussword, then glance my way and say, "oops, sorry". 

(Parenthetically, I don't know why they apologized to me. Never in my career have I set myself up as a judge or a censor, or anything remotely like that, and yet ... well, maybe it's an aura I have. Who knows? I did notice that they apologized to me, and not to the women in the meeting.)

The 2016 Presidential Election

Then came the 2016 presidential election campaign. One of the candidates, Donald J. Trump, had no filter, as the saying goes. He cussed and swore all the time, in public as well as in private. The news media -- that is, the press, television reporters, and the Internet -- delighted in quoting him verbatim. This opened the floodgates. Suddenly it seemed that everybody felt empowered to use profanity in public, and so everybody did. Public profanity spread faster than a pandemic. (Okay, that's ironic.)

And it has stayed that way, throughout Trump's presidency and afterwards. It may be one of his lasting legacies, and that's a crying shame. It's way too late to put those horses back in the barn.

Like Father, Like Son

Let's go back again to 1981. I was fresh out of college. Our family car was a 1969 Plymouth Satellite, with a Mopar V8 engine. It wasn't a racing engine, just a good workhorse engine. But the car was 12 years old, and things were starting to wear out. We couldn't afford to take it into a mechanic, so for most things, I became the mechanic. 

I couldn't even afford a decent set of tools and a pair of jack stands. Instead, I had some two-foot lengths of old railroad tie in the trunk, plus an adjustable wrench, a pair of pliers, and a huge screwdriver. When I needed to work on the car, I would lift it with the tire jack, shove the railroad ties under the frame, and lower the car onto the railroad ties. Then I would crawl under the car and start swearing at it.

Yeah. Swearing at it. I learned quickly why mechanics have such foul mouths. Cusswords are better than WD-40 at loosening stuck bolts.

The starters on Mopar engines were notorious for wearing out, and rebuilt/replacement starters were even more so. I got so I could jack up the car, replace the starter, and have the car running again in less than 40 minutes. And 300 cusswords.

One day, I was out in the parking lot, underneath the car, replacing the starter again, when my two-year-old son drove up beside me on his little white riding car. He dismounted and lifted the seat. He pulled out of the storage compartment a piece of two-by-four lumber, his plastic wrench, and his plastic screwdriver. He shoved the two-by-four under the car. Then he lay down on his back, shoved the screwdriver under the car, and started cussing at it.

Yeahhhh, that's when I decided that I needed to change my tune -- clean up my act -- literally, and both idioms. I made a conscious effort to remove those words from my vocabulary, and to replace them with plain English words that said what I meant. I started aiming for more precise language.

Nine years later, I knew that I had been successful, when my now-eleven-year-old son was out in the garage working on a project. While hammering a nail, and unaware that anybody could hear him, he yelled loudly, "OUCH! I HIT MY THUMB!" Win.

Decades later, while lying in the Emergency Room, suffering from what was later diagnosed as pancreatitis, and howling from the pain, the strongest words I used were "WOW, THIS HURTS WORSE THAN ANYTHING I'VE EVER FELT!" and "HOLY MACKEREL, THIS HURTS!". Still winning.

Yeah, But There's Still Everybody Else

It's true. I'm not the only person in the world who makes a habit of clean speech. Unfortunately, for me it's still a conscious effort. I admire all of the people, for whom clean speech (or precise speech, if you prefer) is second nature, just a habit.

But then there's everybody else. I can recall a conversation recently, where half the words the speaker said, by actual count, were "fuck", "shit", or variations thereof. Not only could I not understand what he was trying to say, but I could not take the man seriously. I have heard many conversations like that.

Over the years, I have made many efforts to enjoy and appreciate contemporary music, hip-hop/R&B being one genre. But I cannot get past the profanity. It gets in the way.

Modern fiction literature, same thing. Political speeches, same thing. Popular movies, same thing. Way too many television shows, same thing. It's not necessary. It may be in there to pull a laugh out of the audience, or to sound sophisticated, but it doesn't work for me. In radio parlance, for me, it's a "tune-out".

So, What to Do About it?

Every one of those cusswords is a substitute for a perfectly good English-language word, and not a very good substitute at that. Why not just use the regular English words to get your message across? Instead of yelling, "That fuckin' fucker fucked up my shit again!", say, "That stupid clerk messed up my order again!" It's more accurate, and it's less likely to be misunderstood.

It really is that simple.

 If you want, go find a thesaurus and look up some stronger alternatives for "stupid". Could be useful in the future.

What about "Oh My Gawd" and Stuff Like That?

Ah, yes. Oaths and interjections.

Interjections are simple reactions to things. Today, they're mostly overreactions. And most of them merely sound stupid.

"Holy shit!"
"Fuuuuuuuck!"

"Dammmmmmmmn!"

"Oh my Gawwwwwd!"

"God damn it!"

(By the way, what's God got to do with it? Surely whatever just happened isn't His fault, is it? Leave Him out of it.)

Let's get Biblical here for a minute. Wait, wait, don't leave. This isn't a religious discussion. I'm just using the Good Book as a literary source. Again, don't get all excited. Geeze, you guys.

(See what I did there?)

In the Old Testament, in 2 Kings 6:31, is an intriguing phrase. Imagine the king, inspecting the city, then turning to his advisers, slashing his finger across his throat in the classic gesture, and saying "God do so to me, and more also, if ..."

That's an oath. Today, we might say, "God strike me dead if ..."

Or, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Or, "If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'."

The most common oath today is the simple interjection, "Oh my god." It's used so often as to be practically meaningless. Nobody recognizes it in its original form as a prayer, an appeal to heaven. An oath.

Somewhere around 1981, a comedian commented on this subject, saying: "God's a busy guy. He's trying to solve world hunger and cancer and stuff, and every time somebody says 'Oh my God', He's like 'WHAT?!!! Whaddayawant? Can't you see I'm busy here?'"

And then there's the oath "What the hell is going on here?" or "What in God's name is going on here?" or, of course, "What the fuck is going on here?"  They're all oaths, that last one doing double duty as a profane oath.

So in the New Testament, Jesus says (paraphrasing) "Don't swear at all. Don't swear by heaven, and don't swear by the earth, and don't even swear by the hairs on your head. Because you don't have any power over heaven, or earth, or your hair." Well, Supercuts may disagree about the hair thing. But you get the idea.

(I guess he didn't like the tale of the Three Little Pigs. Because, by his definition, "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!" is an oath.)

Instead, he said "Let all your communication be, yea, yea; nay, nay." That doesn't mean that when you're mad at someone, you should call them a yea-yea-nay-nay. Nor does it mean that you should holler "yea yea nay nay" when you pound your thumb with a hammer. (Actually, if you did that, it might make you laugh, and that would be a good thing. But I digress ...) 

What he was saying was simply, "You don't need to use an oath to reinforce your words. Just say what you mean." 

Whether you like it or not, your speech defines who you are. Again in the New Testament, Jesus said, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." Later, James wrote "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be."

That last paragraph goes far beyond profanity, and begins to address the subject of how we talk to each other, and how we talk about each other. That's another post for another time.

Okay, But What about Substitute Swear Words?

I will admit, this is a grey area. Substitute swear words are a sneaky way to get your point across without actually using profanity. Thus:

"Hell" becomes "heck".

"God" becomes "gosh".

"Pussy" becomes "sissy". Yes, that's right.

"Fuck" becomes "fudge" or "flip" or "frack" or one of many f-substitutes.

"Shit" becomes "shoot". 

Do I really need to list them all out for you?

One afternoon when I was in college (clearly before 1981), I stepped out of the Engineering Building and looked up at the sky. I said to myself, "Yikes. I'd better get across campus in a hurry. It looks like it could rain any second."

Another student stepped out behind me. He looked up at the sky, and said loudly, "Oh, my scrud."

Tch. Why didn't you just say the real thing?

I think it was George Carlin who called substitute words "chicken-shit cusswords." To address substitute cusswords, we could horribly mangle SWK's quote and say: "Substitute swear words are the chicken-shit effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcibly."

In Conclusion, Your Honour ...

It's got nothing to do with religion. It's got everything to do with precision of language. And, for better or for worse, it has everything to do with intelligence -- well, sounding intelligent. Clean up your language and say what you mean -- no more, and no less.

Just stop cussing, dammit.

Postscript: But What about Jodi?

Jodi is my best friend. Okay, she's one of my best friends. We have been best friends for a long time. She and I go way back, to long before 1981. I love her more than I can possibly put into words.

Jodi is a professional wordsmith. She has made good money as a writer and an editor. So she knows how to turn a phrase.

She is also the most eloquent and colorful cusser I have ever known. I have never heard anyone use profanity as adroitly, as skillfully, and to such deadly effect, as Jodi does. In direct contradiction to everything I have said here, Jodi's blue streaks are high art, and music to my ears. And I hope she never changes.

Word Peeve: "It's Not Worth It"

 This isn't really a peeve, more an observation. Language is evolving right before our eyes.

"I went through all that pain, but it was worth the trophy."

"We got first-class seats! Sitting in the airport for hours was worth it."

Hmm. Normally, when you consider buying something, you ask yourself if the item you're buying is worth the money it will cost you.

That house, for example, is worth a million dollars.

For a non-monetary example, consider a triathlon. You get a medal just for completing it. The medal is your reward. What it costs you is hours of physical and mental exertion, plus some pain and discomfort. Is the participation medal worth the exertion and the pain? 

Or, in the modern usage, is the exertion and pain worth the medal?

Or, in an even more confusing modern usage, is the exertion and pain worth it, just to get the medal? Wait a minute, what's the "it" in that sentence?

If you, like me, are tilting at windmills in your quest for more precise speech, then you may recognize that the reward is always worth the cost, not the other way around.

This:

The trophy was worth the pain. The medal was worth the exertion. The first-class seats were worth the waiting. That house is worth $1 million.

Not this:

The pain was worth the trophy. The exertion was worth the medal. The wait was worth the first-class seats. $1 million is worth that house.

However, in the end, after the dust has cleared:

The pain was worthy of the trophy. The exertion was worthy of the medal. The wait was worthy of first-class seats. The $1 million price tag was worthy of that house.

The person who endured the pain was deserving of the trophy. The person who made the exertion was deserving of the medal. And the travelers who waited in the terminal all day were deserving of the first-class seats. I'm not sure that the buyer with $1 million is deserving of that house, but they certainly can afford it.

There's always a "yeah, but", isn't there? 

In conclusion, your honor ...

As languages evolve, we now feel comfortable using "it is (or is not) worth it" in both directions: the reward is worth the cost, and the cost is worth the reward.

Things we don't do with a telephone or television anymore

With the advance of technology, there are some things we no longer do with our telephones or televisions, although we still use the words. For example:

"Pick up the phone" - It used to be that you answered a telephone call by picking up the handset while the phone was ringing. Or you initiated a phone call by lifting the phone off its hook or out of the cradle. Now you have to press a button to answer the phone or dial a number.

"Hang up the phone" - Most phones today, even cellphones, have a "hang up" button. But you no longer terminate the call and disconnect the line by hanging the handset on the hook on the wall.

"Dial a number" - Numeric touchpads have been de rigueur for over 40 years. I can't recall the last time I saw a dial telephone that still worked. Children and many young adults today don't even know how to use a dial phone.

"The phone is ringing" - Telephones today beep, chirp, warble, and blink. They can also sing you your favorite song or make burping or screaming noises to alert you to a call. But if you want a true ringing telephone, you'll have to download an, um, "ringtone" that sounds like a ringing telephone.

"Turn the TV on/off/up/down" - It used to be that every television had a rotary knob, labeled "ON/VOL" or "OFF/VOL". This knob was a combination on/off switch and volume control, and you had to turn the knob to perform any of the named actions. Other electronic gadgets also had rotary on/off switches, and so "turn me on" became a part of the vernacular. Today, rotary switches are a retro fashion, and they often don't have the same mechanical contacts behind them as the old ones.

"Tune in a channel" - The channel selector used to be a rotary dial with stops at channels 2 through 13. Don't ask about the 1. You wouldn't understand. But even if you turned the dial to, say, 5, channel 5 wouldn't come in clearly until you turned the fine-tuning dial to "tune in" the station. "Automatic fine tuning" was a fancy feature on new TVs in the 1970s, but it still didn't work perfectly. Today, you punch a channel number on the remote, and the TV's electronics take care of the fine-tuning for you. In fact, with digital TV, fine-tuning is a thing of the past.

What I said about TVs also applies to radios.