As captioned. Thx!
2006-08-13 01:23:18 · 8 answers · asked by runnerdx 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It means you've pooped your clogs, kicked the bucket and you're on the stairway to heaven - i.e. you're dead ;-)
2006-08-13 01:28:47 · answer #1 · answered by Al 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It often refers to one's time to die, but it can also be used more metaphorically (like "the end of the line"), e.g., it might be used of someone about to be fired.
"One is in grave difficulty or near death. For example, She knew her number was up when she saw the look on her supervisor's face, or He looks terrible; I think his number's up. In the earliest use of this phrase, in the early 1800s, number referred to an unfavorable lottery number"
http://www.answers.com/topic/one-s-number-is-up
But some other uses suggest the expression may have referred to another sort of "number" (as the article above notes). I would compare the idea of somone's draft number coming up, or more loosely, when one is assigned a number, and when their "turn" is reached, their number is up. (Example: the assigning of numbers in a deli so that patrons are served in order, that is, when their number comes up.)
"Up" may also literally have meant "put up", that is, visibly posted, which will work for several of these.
2006-08-13 18:25:11 · answer #2 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To run out of options or chances ; or "the ball is about to drop".A final "showdown".
2006-08-13 08:49:36 · answer #3 · answered by missmayzie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When " your number is up " means that it is just your time to die.
another version is, " when it is time, it is time "
2006-08-13 08:27:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means you've been caught out i'm afraid
2006-08-13 08:26:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means that when something happens to you, it was the predestined time for it to happen.
2006-08-13 08:25:59 · answer #6 · answered by WC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it means that it was their appointed time to die.
2006-08-13 08:25:40 · answer #7 · answered by Kathy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means............ that you have died..... your number is up.... is just a slang.. meaning that.
"O" Wise One............... knows
2006-08-13 08:27:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋