usage of over to & up to

[Thomas0857]

Parents left it over to their children to decide what to do with the money.
"over" is adjective. Right? but what is the meaning?

Parents left it up to their children to decide what to do with the money.
(why use "up to" is incorrect?)

Thanks

[danmahaffey]

Parents left it over to their children to decide what to do with the money.
"over" is adjective. Right? but what is the meaning?

Parents left it up to their children to decide what to do with the money.
(why use "up to" is incorrect?)

Thanks Leave something up to is a variation of leave something to, a construction of verb and preposition that means to give a responsibility to another. For example, I left it up to you to pick the restaurant. Or, I left it to you to pick the restaurant.

Up plays an important role in avoiding the sense that you are giving an item to someone. I left my cat to Susan makes sense, while I left my cat up to Susan is very strange indeed.

I don't know of a way to use leave over in this fashion.

Fun fact: a leftover is a part of an earlier meal that you keep to finish later.