[Vocabulary] took you up on the offer?

[palinkasocsi]

Dear Friends,

Suppose that A is supposed to do some work for B by Saturday. B sends a letter to A that he (A) has one more day, so he can work till Sunday. A then writes to B:

"I took you up on the offer of Sunday rather than Saturday."

What does it exacly mean? What structure is used here: 'take sy up on the offer'? -- didn't find it in any dictionary.

Thanks a lot.

Palinkasocsi

 

[emsr2d2]

Dear Friends,

Suppose that A is supposed to do some work for B by Saturday. B sends a letter to A that he (A) has one more day, so he can work till Sunday. A then writes to B:

"I took you up on the offer of Sunday rather than Saturday."

What does it exacly mean? What structure is used here: 'take sy up on the offer'? -- didn't find it in any dictionary.

Thanks a lot.

Palinkasocsi

If someone offers you something and you decide to accept it, you "take them up on their offer".

A young man offered me a lift to London when he saw me waiting at the train station, but all the trains were cancelled. I don't normally accept lifts from strangers but I was desperate, so I decided to take him up on his offer.

So in your example, Person A was offered an extra day to finish the work, and he accepted.

Note that it's usually used in relation to an offer of help, assistance, work etc etc, not in relation to something simple like being offered a cup of coffee. If you're offered a cup of coffee, you simply accept or decline.