Here is the way we hear the story: In 1942, during the last World War, an airplane mechanics' school in Oklahoma was given a huge challenge. The U.S. Army Air Force needed to train mechanics from 60 nations. Few of the trainees spoke English. And the school in Oklahoma had to train those mechanics very quickly, because most of the warplane mechanics in 1942 spoke Japanese and German.

So the mechanics came from across the big world to little Oklahoma, to the Spartan School of Aeronautics, to learn how to maintain warplanes. J. Paul Getty, the Oklahoma oil billionaire, owned Spartan. Getty tried to volunteer for the Navy to fight, but they they told him that, at 49, he was too old. So, because of the Allies' great need, Getty offered his full time to operate his school himself during the war.

It appears that before those mechanics came to Spartan, they were given 400 English words to memorize. Those words, plus words for airplane parts and maintenance tools, were all they had. The Instructors also had to operate within that "closed system" of 400 words, of course.

With only those 400 words, these mechanics learned as much as they could learn in 12 weeks in Oklahoma. It is told that many kind farmers and townspeople put them up and helped with their English. 3 months later these mechanics returned to their faraway countries. Within 4 years, they had helped to win a World War. Perhaps just as important, these mechanics helped establish airports in countries that had never dreamed they would have modern air travel so soon.

Clearly these must have been the right words, formed in a "closed language" around Phrasal Verbs, verbs that use a preposition to change their meaning. Earlier in the 20th Century, C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards had tested a similar system of 800 words -- called Basic English -- in China and Korea. This system stressed learning a few common verbs that joined with several prepositions to form the everyday verbs that all English speakers use, Phrasal Verbs. Every English-speaking person, regardless of education, understands that "get out" means to leave quickly, and many other words.

These combination meanings in Phrasal Verbs, understood instantly by English speakers of every education level, allowed very few words to magnify into a great number of meanings.

For instance, in the drawing above:
Get off -- means to dismount.
Get up -- means to arise from sleep.
Get down -- means to duck ones head.
Get over -- means to forget something bad and move on.
Get out -- means to leave quickly

Take off -- means to lift off the ground as an airplane or bird.
Take up -- means to commence a sport, a job, or a study.
Take down -- means to bring down something that is posted or elevated.
Take out -- means either to expunge or erase, or to carry out as a meal.
Take over -- means to assume command of.

Put off -- means to ignore someone, or to be ignored.
Put down -- means to insult.
Put up -- means to present, or to host, or to bear, depending on context.
Put off -- Means to delay or procrastinate.
Put over -- means to trick or cheat.

So you can see, as they learned in Oklahoma, you can do a lot with a few words. Other basic verbs that are used often in Phrasal Verbs are Make, Let, Send, Give, Come, Go, Pull and Keep. However, by now you know English speakers make up new words all the time. (See N2V2A) For instance, an item that is not worth the money has long been called a "Rip Off", a computer programmer with social skills "Cleans Up well" and happy drinkers are known to say "Party Down!"...Even in Oklahoma.