up to

Hello M2L

1. Does the quote mean "I'm not ready for it yet?"

— it means 'I'm not capable of doing that at the moment'. You might say it if you were ill, and someone suggested a 20 mile run.

2. Can I say, "I'm really up to that" to mean "I'm ready for it?"

— no; but you can say 'I'm up for that', to mean 'I'm extremely keen on doing that!'

It's more common as a question, though; for instance, someone might say, 'MrQ and I are going for a drink tonight. Are you up for it?' Here, it means 'does that appeal to you too?'

3. Is it a common usage of 'up to sth.'?

Yes; you also have 'to get up to something': either, especially of children, 'to do something mischievous'; or simply 'to do'. For instance, 'What did you get up to at the weekend?'

MrP

Meantolearn wrote:

Hi MrP, Once I was told a joke by my previous co-worker. A: "What are you up to?" B: "I'm up to 6 3"  (i.e. 6'3")

As for the different meanings...When English is at a loss for an expression, it takes a common verb (give, take, get, etc.), and sticks random prepositions and adverbs at the end. The resulting string is then called a 'phrasal verb' and used to torment foreign students of English.

It keeps the ESL publishing industry busy, though.

MrP

Hello M2

"What are you up to?" might sound a little policeman-like, as a greeting; "what have you been up to?" is more usual.

But it's quite a familiar greeting: you'd only use it with someone you knew well.

MrP