It really carries no meaning. It could be "over at" as well. It sounds like southern or country US to me. The term might be used because it is, literally, 'up' in elevation; it might also be used just because the house is so old

2. first time once / carefully 4. situation is too unclear to make a decision 5. stop at that 6. I've put on 5 pounds more than when I was pregnant with her

If I didn't mean that I hadn't finished the book, I would say something like: I was reading I read part of XX I read more of XX I read for a while I read some This is only my own personal style, not a rule.

Philip, Thanks. What is the common expression in American English? I thought I answered that in my previous answer. Is there something I could explain better?

And to think that most American public schools have eliminated even the most basic of music classes.

low rarely/infrequently: one or the other, but not both

doesn't live up to one's potential ?

No 'the'. We seldom use first ly in the US. The way your sentence is constructed, I believe that a numerical listing is unnecessary. These are more often used when much longer description is involved. Some would insist

I think the pronoun 'they' is appropriate here because its antecedent is so far removed and separated by phrases separated by commas.

My example was in the past tense . On the other hand, the above examples are in the present tense . Can I understand that "He tosses the ball with the left hand." is acceptable if he is left-handed? Tense would not make a difference.