# dish up - used transitively or intrasitively?



## zaffy

'Sit down around the table, I'm going to dish up'.


Does that sentence work? Or should I say 'at the table'? Does 'dish up' work?


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## Barque

First, there's a comma splice. Also, "I'm going to dish up" isn't idiomatic if you mean "I'm going to serve lunch/dinner".

_Sit down. I'm going to serve dinner. _You don't need to refer to the table. If you want to, you need "at the table". Or: _Everyone, please go to the table. I'm going to serve dinner. _

"Dish up" usually means "cook", often used to refer to quick cooking. I suppose it can also mean "serve" in context but the way you wrote it doesn't sound right.


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## elroy

zaffy said:


> Sit down around the table


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## sound shift

Barque said:


> Also, "I'm going to dish up' isn't idiomatic if you mean "I'm going to serve lunch/dinner".


Oh. That's what I mean when I say, "I'm going to dish up".


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## zaffy

So is the sentence correct or not?


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## Hermione Golightly

There's no reason to say 'around', or for that matter 'at the table', unless you want to practice 'sit _at_ a table'. We usually say "Dinner's ready!" but I think 'dish up' might be AE.

What do you call correct? Grammatically sound but unnatural?


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## zaffy

I was told there is a mistake in that sentence. Some of you dislike 'around', and some of you dislike 'dish up'; so I'm confused.


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## elroy

I've never heard "dish up," but to me, "Sit down around the table" sounds okay, although it sounds like something you would say to children.


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## Barque

zaffy said:


> So is the sentence correct or not?


To me, it's not, because of the comma splice and the use of "dish up". As SoundShift and HG say, others might use "dish up" the way you did.

"Sit down around the table" is grammatical and could work in some contexts but sounds unnatural to me in that one.


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## sound shift

This is in any case context-dependent, but we haven't been given any.

For example, if these people always eat at the table, just "Can you sit down now? I'm going to dish up/serve/whatever" is enough.


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## zaffy

'Come to the table, everyone - I'm ready to dish up'
That's a Cambridge example, used intrasitively


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## elroy

zaffy said:


> 'Come to the table, everyone - I'm ready to dish up'
> That's a Cambridge example.


 And?  Wasn't your question about "around the table" vs. "at the table"?


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## Barque

sound shift said:


> Oh. That's what I mean when I say, "I'm going to dish up".


Interesting. I've only heard "dish up" in sentences like "They said they weren't ready to serve breakfast yet, but they could dish up a couple of fried eggs if I couldn't wait", or "It was late but he dished (me) up a simple meal".


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## sound shift

Barque said:


> Interesting. I've only heard "dish up" in sentences like "They said they weren't ready to serve breakfast yet, but they could dish up a couple of fried eggs if I couldn't wait", or "It was late but he dished up a simple meal".


I haven't heard that usage.


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## Roymalika

sound shift said:


> Oh. That's what I mean when I say, "I'm going to dish up".


"Dish up" in your usage means to serve any meal, or just lunch and dinner?


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## sound shift

Any meal.


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## Thomas Tompion

Perhaps I've always been a bit literal minded about this.

I though to dish up meant to move food from pans where it is cooking to dishes from which it will be served at table.  Obviously this is an essential preliminary to feeding people, so the one may have come to mean the other.

*Sit down.  I'm going to dish up.*  should be enough for Zaffy's purpose, I think.  No need to say _*at the table.*_


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## You little ripper!

Barque said:


> Interesting. I've only heard "dish up" in sentences like "They said they weren't ready to serve breakfast yet, but they could dish up a couple of fried eggs if I couldn't wait", or "It was late but he dished (me) up a simple meal".



Like sound shift, I’ve never heard or read it used that way, Barque.


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## heypresto

I can imagine 'rustled up', in these scenarios, but 'dished up' sounds unusual to me too.


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## Thomas Tompion

Yes, while I hate to gang up on Barque, I'd take _dishing up_ to refer to serving food rather than cooking it.

Of course _I'm going to dish up a couple of fried eggs_ could imply both (cook and serve), because the process of cooking fried eggs only takes a few seconds.


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## kentix

It sounds completely odd to me in everyday conversation, especially with nothing following "dish up".

It sounds like something said by a talk/lifestyle show host.

_Next, Chef Larry is going to dish up some delicious apple fritters, so don't go anywhere. You'll want to see that._


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## Barque

Well, if it sounds unusual to you gentlemen, it sounds unusual. 

Basically, I've heard it used only in this meaning, but not necessarily with the "attractive" aspect:
_(transitive) informal---to prepare or present, esp in an attractive manner._

But I see the first definition is what you were all referring to:
_to serve (a meal, food, etc) _

dish up - WordReference.com Dictionary of English


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## Roymalika

Barque said:


> Well, if it sounds unusual to you gentlemen, it sounds unusual.
> 
> Basically, I've heard it used only in this meaning, but not necessarily with the "attractive" aspect:
> _(transitive) informal---to prepare or present, esp in an attractive manner._
> 
> But I see the first definition is what you were all referring to:
> _to serve (a meal, food, etc) _
> 
> dish up - WordReference.com Dictionary of English


Where have you heard the usage you described in #2? The quick cooking one.


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## Barque

I don't remember. We all hear many things every day.


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## Andygc

I won't gang up on you Barque. I wouldn't be at all surprised if I heard in a canteen "Breakfast won't be ready for 20 minutes, but I could dish you up a couple of fried eggs and a bit of toast if you're in a rush." The cook would have to like you ...


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## JulianStuart

Andygc said:


> I won't gang up on you Barque. I wouldn't be at all surprised if I heard in a canteen "Breakfast won't be ready for 20 minutes, but I could dish you up a couple of fried eggs and a bit of toast if you're in a rush." The cook would have to like you ...


 
I associate "dish up" with that kind of canteen/cafeteria situation but would not use it at a dinner table, for example.  I might prefer "dish out" but with the same restriction.
Including "around the table" would only make sense if the people being addressed were sitting down somewhere else (that's context, but we have none)


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## kentix

And in that context I would expect "Come to the table."


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## Roymalika

JulianStuart said:


> but would not use it at a dinner table


Can I ask why?


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## Hermione Golightly

If there's a mistake in the OP sentence I would bet it's 'around' the table. Zaffy who told you there was a mistake?


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## Hermione Golightly

As for 'dish up', it sounds like something you might do with hominy grits. We/I 'serve' meals.


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## JulianStuart

kentix said:


> And in that context I would expect "Come to the table."


Me too, but around would not be inappropriate.


Roymalika said:


> Can I ask why?


That's the way I have always used it. It conjures an image of someone standing in front of a big pot of something and people walking past holding their plates out for a spoonful.


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## Roymalika

JulianStuart said:


> I associate "dish up" with that kind of canteen/cafeteria situation but would not use it at a dinner table,


When you say at dinner table, are you referring to dinner table_ at home, _where the family members or guests eat dinner_? _


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## JulianStuart

Roymalika said:


> When you say at dinner table, are you referring to dinner table_ at home, _where the family members or guests eat dinner_? _


Yes.  It could also apply to a table in a restaurant. The waiter may bring food in dishes (like vegetables etc) and serve it to diners, but I would not use "dish up" in that setting.


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## Roymalika

JulianStuart said:


> It conjures an image of someone standing in front of a big pot of something and people walking past holding their plates out for a spoonful.


Sorry, I don't understand your point here.


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## JulianStuart

Roymalika said:


> Sorry, I don't understand your point here.


When I hear the phrase "dish up" that is the image that comes to my mind.


> Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
> *conjure up *vb (tr, adverb) to present to the mind; evoke or imagine: he conjured up a picture of his childhood


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## Barque

I think Roymalika means he hasn't understood the scene you described. RM, JS is referring to the sort of scene you might find at a place where a lot of people line up to be served food by someone, like at a factory. Or a jail. Or a shelter for the homeless.


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## JulianStuart

Barque said:


> I think Roymalika means he hasn't understood the scene you described. RM, JS is referring to the sort of scene you might find at a place where a lot of people line up to be served food by someone, like at a factory. Or a jail. Or a shelter for the homeless.


Thank you.  Here's a picture of what I was describing - from a homeless shelter.  It goes with the WRF entry example sentence.


> *dish up,* [~ + up + object] to put (food) on plates;
> distribute:He dished up meals for the homeless.


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## Roymalika

I'd understood the scene he described, Barque, but did not understand the connection of "dish up" with this scene.


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## JulianStuart

Roymalika said:


> I'd understood the scene he described, Barque, but did not understand the connection of "dish up" with this scene.


Yes - I hope the picture illustrates that the lady is in front of a big pot and someone is holding out their plate to receove a spoonful.  She is dishing up/out the cranberry sauce for a Thanksgiving meal.


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## zaffy

Hermione Golightly said:


> If there's a mistake in the OP sentence I would bet it's 'around' the table. Zaffy who told you there was a mistake?



A native, Scottish man. I just asked him what was wrong, and he said 'dish up' worked transitively only, for example 'dish up a salad'.


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## JulianStuart

Elision is a wonderful excuse reason for the OP usage. Everyone will know that "the meal" has been omitted


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## heypresto

It sounds perfectly natural to me. Well, the 'dish up' bit does.


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## Roymalika

JulianStuart said:


> Yes - I hope the picture illustrates that the lady is in front of a big pot and someone is holding out their plate to receove a spoonful.  She is dishing up/out the cranberry sauce for a Thanksgiving meal.


So that's the way you've used "dish up" in your life and that's what you and Andygc were referring to in #26 and #25? (Canteen/cafeteria situation)


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## Hermione Golightly

A Scotsman, eh!


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## JulianStuart

Roymalika said:


> So that's the way you've used "dish up" in your life and that's what you and Andygc were referring to in #26 and #25? (Canteen/cafeteria situation)


Correct - I underlined the I in my post to emphasize that I was not writing a dictionary definition for all users/contexts


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## Barque

Roymalika said:


> that's what you and Andygc were referring to in #26 and #25?


Please read #25 again. Andygc wasn't referring to the sort of thing the photo in #37 shows. He was referring to something similar to what I said in #13.

JulianStuart then agreed with Andygc and then went on to give another example of where he might use "dish up"--the lining up situation.


Roymalika said:


> I'd understood the scene he described, Barque, but did not understand the connection of "dish up" with this scene.


He's using "dish up" in its meaning of "to serve", as one of the definitions I quoted in #22 says. I'd use it to mean "cook something quickly and simply"--see the other definition I quoted. It doesn't refer to speed but it does refer to cooking rather than serving.


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## london calling

zaffy said:


> 'Come to the table, everyone - I'm ready to dish up'
> That's a Cambridge example, used intrasitively


I use 'dish up' that way. I imagine it's BE, though.


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