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EN KO VI NE KM ID

put up with

pʊt ʌp wɪð

Not 'tolerate' — holding a weight over your head

The picture You hold something heavy up on raised arms and refuse to set it down. Give up lets the weight fall; put up with keeps holding it up.

Everyday expressions

Where the picture shows up in put up with

  1. holding up noise

    I can't put up with this noise any longer.

    aɪ kænt pʊt ʌp wɪð ðɪs nɔɪz ˈeni ˈlɔːŋɡər

    I can't stand this noise any longer.

    Your arms hold the block of noise up over your head and start to shake.

  2. holding up a person for ten years

    She put up with him for ten years.

    ʃi pʊt ʌp wɪð hɪm fər ten jɪrz

    She endured him for ten years.

    The weight of one whole person has sat on those raised arms for ten years.

  3. holding up the cold all winter

    We had to put up with the cold all winter.

    wi hæd tə pʊt ʌp wɪð ðə koʊld ɔːl ˈwɪntər

    We had to endure the cold all winter.

    A cold load rests on your shoulders and you stand under it all winter.

  4. how do you carry that weight

    How do you put up with that boss?

    haʊ duː juː pʊt ʌp wɪð ðæt bɔːs

    How do you cope with that boss?

    You watch someone else's huge load and wonder how their arms hold it.

  5. setting the weight down

    I'm not putting up with it anymore.

    aɪm nɑːt ˈpʊtɪŋ ʌp wɪð ɪt ˌeniˈmɔːr

    I'm not taking it anymore.

    The load comes down onto the floor with a thud and you dust off your hands.

    The negative is far more common. Here the load finally goes on the floor.

All of it in one picture

Put up with is one posture: holding a weight up and refusing to set it down. If the weight is noise, you can't stand it; if it is a person, you carried them for ten years; if it is the cold, you stood under it all winter. Asking how someone bears a boss is asking how their arms hold that load. And the moment the load hits the floor, that is exactly 'I'm not taking it anymore.'

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