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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

upsies and downsies en · NOUN

Etymology

From up + -sies + and + down + -sies.

Meanings

  1. (colloquial, plural, plural-only, rare) Synonym of ups and downs.
    • Do we not suspect, deep down, that when we say, “Lord, I believe,” that those three short words are but the preface to “Let the good times roll!”? Paul [the Apostle] obviously found confession not as a part of some despairing cycle, but a displacement of that ugly routine. Is there a steady confessional life that eliminates those spiritual “upsies and downsies”? 1998, Calvin Miller, “The Confessional Walk of Faith”, in The Unchained Soul, Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, →ISBN, page xix:
    • He [Alexander Korda] also mentioned how much he missed the yacht and remarked that his career had been marked “by too many upsies and downsies.” 1979, Michael Korda, “Part Two: Close-Up”, in Charmed Lives: A Family Romance, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 377:
    • Now the program had started. Dee Delight was introducing her. “…such a great, great privilege to be allowed to introduce, in her great hour of well-deserved glory, this beloved old friend. I have seen her through lean years and fat, through sunshine and tears, through upsies and downsies – as Opal herself might say – and I want to say to all the world that no matter what was happening to her she has always been first and foremost a mother.[…]” 1951, Whitfield Cook, Roman Comedy: An Impolite Extravaganza, New York, N.Y.: Coward-McCann, →OCLC, page 202:
    • My own first three years had been full of “upsies” and “downsies” but never had I found time to kill or time to pine. I kept in touch with the everyday world and busy with things that seemed to be waiting for me to do. 1982, Esther Cathy, Under His Wings: A Philosophical Autobiography, Macon, Ga.: Mercer Press Services, →OCLC, page 185:
    • We have serious problems involving debt, revenue and expense and the Treasurer attempted to address them. First the Secretary deletes the remarks in her summary. Next she misrepresents them entirely in her draft minutes. Then the Vice President comes on with a bunch of hooey that it is all stock market upsies and downsies. 1999 January 8, JimEade, “Unofficial Summary of December USCF Board Meeting”, in rec.games.chess.politics (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Apr 2026:
    • Aw gee. Losing hurts I know but ya gotta live with the upsies and downsies. For all you MS [Microsoft] lovers out there you will regret the day you voted for [George W.] Bush. 2001 January 12, EZoto, “[Bill] Gates wants [Al] Gore to win?”, in comp.os.ms-windows.apps.utilities.win3x (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Apr 2026:
    • You confuse "investing" with gambling. Investing is when you build something that makes a service or product that people pay money for. Investing is not betting your retirement resources on your hunches about the upsies and downsies of businesses in countries you can never fully understand or trust. 2008 April 23, [Dave] <snedekerd@msn.com>, “US stocks are scams”, in alt.accounting (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Apr 2026:

Relateds

upsies · uppies and downies · downsies

Synonyms

ups and downs