[Vocabulary] mug up and cram

dilodi83 · Jun 30, 2013

Hi everybody.
When talking about school or university and specifically about memorizing a lot of information before a test or an exam, trying to push them into our brain, I know that in English we can say "to mug up" or "to cram", as in:

1) I have to cram for my history test.
2) I have to mug up for my history test.
3) I have to mug up on history for my test.

Can these three be good and are they all commonly used? Are there any differences between AE and BE?

Thank you all.

bhaisahab · Jun 30, 2013

dilodi83 said:
Hi everybody.
When talking about school or university and specifically about memorizing a lot of information before a test or an exam, trying to push them into our brain, I know that in English we can say "to mug up" or "to cram", as in:

1) I have to cram for my history test.
2) I have to mug up for my history test.
3) I have to mug up on history for my test.

Can these three be good and are they all commonly used? Are there any differences between AE and BE?

Thank you all.

I don't know if they are very common these days, I've only been back in the UK for two and a half years. My eighteen year old daughter and her friend always use "study" but I don't know if that's typical.

Gillnetter · Jun 30, 2013

dilodi83 said:
Hi everybody.
When talking about school or university and specifically about memorizing a lot of information before a test or an exam, trying to push them into our brain, I know that in English we can say "to mug up" or "to cram", as in:

1) I have to cram for my history test.
2) I have to mug up for my history test.
3) I have to mug up on history for my test.

Can these three be good and are they all commonly used? Are there any differences between AE and BE?

Thank you all.

In AmE we "cram" for a test. After some research I found that "to mug up" is British slang. "to mug up" would probably not be heard in most US schools.

emsr2d2 · Jun 30, 2013

It might be British slang, but I've never heard "mug up".

Barb_D · Jul 1, 2013

I would have no idea what "mug up" meant.

When I was in school, "cram" implied that you have to study very intensely in a short period of time. "Study" is more general. If you have kept up with your material all semester, you shouldn't have to "cram" at the end.

emsr2d2 · Jul 1, 2013

Barb_D said:
If you have kept up with your material all semester, you shouldn't have to "cram" at the end.

Ah, the wisdom of age!

JMurray · Jul 1, 2013

not a teacher

I've only come across "mug up" in an older British context, Billy Bunter comes to mind. I'm much more familiar with "cram", but I'm not sure that I've ever heard someone say it outside of TV or film. In my experience the most common term is "swot" (sometimes written as "swat").
I can't go out, I have to swot for the exam tomorrow.
Of course she got good marks, she's such a swot.
He's swotting up the road code for his driving test.

Barb_D · Jul 1, 2013

And the "swot" one would also leave me mystified!

probus · Jul 2, 2013

Both mug up and swot seem to me old-fashioned BrE.

dilodi83 · Jul 2, 2013

so which one would you suggest to a person who doesn't speak English as first language? Which one is corrently used to mean to study really hard in a real short time for a test or an exam?

Rover_KE · Jul 2, 2013

[Vocabulary] mug up and cram

dilodi83

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