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From the Cambridge Dictionary I got the following:

Pile up: To increase in amount.

The work was piling up, and I decided I had to go in to the office on the weekend.

Pile on: to increase quickly.
After she had the heart attack, the pounds piled on, and her weight rose to 15 stone.
When I returned to live with my parents, the weight piled on because I was stuffing myself with home cooking.

Is it the speed of the increase the difference? I'm a bit confused, are they synonyms?

AIQ
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Cyn Mar CZ
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    It is a good idea to look at different dictionaries. Sometimes you can spot a pattern in the examples (if definitions are not helpful) – AIQ Oct 27 '19 at 00:03

2 Answers2

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The distinction is subtle, for sure. I think piled up is broadly similar to accumulated: the thing is forming a stack. I think piled on is broadly similar to burdened: the thing is being added to a stack that you are carrying. I think you are also right that there is a difference in intensity: things that pile up are more gradual than things that are piled on.

Your example, The work was piling up, makes me imagine a literal stack of documents on your desk steadily growing taller. It is unclear whether there is more work than usual, or if you are working more slowly than usual. You could say the work was being piled on to make clear that the amount of work had quickly increased and I would assume you felt challenged or overwhelmed by the amount of work assigned to you.

In US English, piling on is often used to describe when a group of people collectively oppose another person. It implies that the opposition is unfair or too extreme. Imagine if I suggested a certain restaurant for dinner, then you said that my suggestion was bad, then your friend insulted me for my suggestion. In that case, your friend would be piling on. It evokes the image of a group of people literally pushing you to the ground and jumping on top of you.

I should also mention that there is a idiomatic use of pile up in US English that refers to a collision involving many cars.

lvnsn
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Prepositions are tricky in any language. In many cases the correct preposition depends on the context.

Piled "up" is used when referring to something that increases in amount. Piled "on" is used when an item is added to another thing. Only in that case is there a thing to pile the item "on".

When work piles "up", there is just more work. When weight piles "on", a person gets the additional weight. If a book is added to a stack, the books are being piled "up". When a book is added to the stack a person is holding, the book is piled "on".

Of course, if you consider the pile of books a "thing", then you can use "on" in that case. So both "the books being piled up" and "a book being piled 'on' the stack of books" is correct.

Wayne Goode
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