>>>Well, out of that list, only 'shut down' and 'shut up' (in that context) mean the same thing - or at least very close. I suppose an argument could be made that 'shut down' means permanently, and 'shut up' means 'for the night' or at least for some temporary time.
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>>I see it as shutting down the machinery of the shop but shutting up the doors and windows thereof.
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>The doors and windows may also need to be boarded. You know, like an airplane or a bus.
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>>And of course, as I think Tamar pointed out some months ago, everyone your side of the Atlantic seems to say "different than" rather than "different from".
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>I'd take that as "more different than"... but then, different from what?

As in this is more different from that than the other is from the fourth. OK but that's not the context here.

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>Speaking of which, it always amuses me when someone mentions that two things are "both the same" or "both different", although they are right - because there's also the possibility that one of the two is the same, and the other one is different.

Aye, you've mentioned that before. It's like when someone says "a pair of twins".