The definition of UP as an adverb in the Macmillan Dictionary Online is used as an example of a range of methodological problems arising from the objectivist treatment of the nature of the representation of spatial relations in English. The illustrative examples from the dictionary entry are contrasted with identical contexts without UP, which paradoxically suit the same definitions. The conclusion is made that UP remains undefined in the entry. Special attention is given to the contexts in which UP is not optional. The illustrative examples of such contexts in the dictionary fail to highlight the role of UP as a marker of a specific sense of the verb it accompanies, which is argued to be a methodological shortcoming. In conclusion, some ways of overcoming the established problems are discussed.