Something's up meaning in English

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Definition

Something's up (with Luna)...: Something's wrong, bad, strange, not right (with Luna)... idiom

I think something's up with Claire. Her skin is green and she keeps shouting that I am the devil.

Examples

"Something's up with Jean Marron."

Exercise 1

"Something's up with Jean Marron"

Which of the following sentences uses this expression, or a similar one, in the same sense as Polly?

There may be more than one correct answer!

There is something up in today's newspaper about the economy in Uruguay.

There's something up ahead. It looks like a large creature. Why don't you get out and take a look at it!

I think there's something up in the marketing department. Everybody there has been acting strange lately.

Something's up with Bob and Sophie. They look like they're having some marital problems.

"Something's up with Jean Marron"

Which of the following sentences uses this expression, or a similar one, in the same sense as Polly?

There may be more than one correct answer!

There is something up in today's newspaper about the economy in Uruguay.

The expression "something's up" cannot be used to describe that there is an article in a newspaper. A better option here would be: There is an article in today's newspaper about the economy in Uruguay. To indicate that there is a problem with the economy in Uruguay, we might say "Something's up with the Uruguayan economy. It seems to be collapsing quickly."

There's something up ahead. It looks like a large creature. Why don't you get out and take a look at it!

In this sentence, "up" is used simply as a preposition of place to indicate where something is located, in this case there is an object "in front of the speaker". This is different than the idiomatic use of "something's up" in Polly's email. Note that this sentence is grammatically correct, it simply expresses a different idea than Polly uses in her email.

I think there's something up in the marketing department. Everybody there has been acting strange lately.

The idiom "something's up" expresses that something strange, suspicious or abnormal is happening. This expression can be used to describe a person who is behaving strangely or even a place where things are abnormal (the marketing department, for example). When Polly writes that "something's up with Jean" she is referring to the strange message that he left on her voice mail.

Something's up with Bob and Sophie. They look like they're having some marital problems.

The idiom "something's up" expresses that something strange, suspicious or abnormal is happening. We can use this expression to describe strange or abnormal behavior (such as Bob and Sophie's) or even a place (the marketing department, for example). When Polly writes that "something's up with Jean" she is referring to the strange message that he left on her voice mail.

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