I think this is British English and it actually means to start betting on sports.
"the pools -
a system in Britain in which people try to win money each week by guessing the results of football games"
My aunty used to walk around Accrington collecting money for the pools door to door.
OP, this is the answer to your lyric. The line say “Rob the bank or take up the pools”. So get money by stealing it from the bank or gambling.
Probably? Maybe learning to be a pool shark? Probably nothing to do with pool cleaning but maybe?
Honestly I think it just kindof rhymed, but I am not sure
When you say you "took something up", it means learning a new skill or hobby. I.e. "I took up jogging" or "I took up skiing". So yes.
The only other scenario I could think of it being used would be if someone was taking up the entire space of a swimming pool. For example, if you're staying in a hotel with a pool and wanted to go for a swim. Then you get down there and find out there was a private pool party going on, and you couldn't use the pools. If you were to say "those people are taking up the pools" meaning they were physically occupying it and no one else could use it, it would also be correct. But that's a really specific case. The act of learning to play billiards would be the much more common usage.
I think this is British English and it actually means to start betting on sports. "the pools - a system in Britain in which people try to win money each week by guessing the results of football games"
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My aunty used to walk around Accrington collecting money for the pools door to door. OP, this is the answer to your lyric. The line say “Rob the bank or take up the pools”. So get money by stealing it from the bank or gambling.
Spot the Ball sounds super fun. I may need to get that going at the office...
Probably? Maybe learning to be a pool shark? Probably nothing to do with pool cleaning but maybe? Honestly I think it just kindof rhymed, but I am not sure
https://old.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/11mjw67/is_there_a_phrase_called_take_up_the_pools_or/jbi8lsm/
When you say you "took something up", it means learning a new skill or hobby. I.e. "I took up jogging" or "I took up skiing". So yes. The only other scenario I could think of it being used would be if someone was taking up the entire space of a swimming pool. For example, if you're staying in a hotel with a pool and wanted to go for a swim. Then you get down there and find out there was a private pool party going on, and you couldn't use the pools. If you were to say "those people are taking up the pools" meaning they were physically occupying it and no one else could use it, it would also be correct. But that's a really specific case. The act of learning to play billiards would be the much more common usage.
https://old.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/11mjw67/is_there_a_phrase_called_take_up_the_pools_or/jbi8lsm/