Pick vs Pick up

PICK vs PICK UP

The difference here doesn`t seem that great at first glance.
    PICK usually means select;
                  - Please PICK the colour of the car you would like? So you choose the colour you want.

    PICK UP is a phrasal verb which means to collect or retrieve.
                  - The car will be ready on Friday. You can PICK it UP then.

(Note how the verb (PICK) and preposition (UP) can be separated by the subject.)

Some of my students with children will sometimes tell me;
                  - "I will PICK my children from the school".

(I sometimes wonder if there is a special scheme here in Brazil where if your children annoy you too much, you can choose to take some other children instead.)

                  - Of course they mean to say they will PICK their children UP from school.

Compare the following;
                  - "There is a Board Meeting in 2 hours. We need to PICK the Chairman."
                  - (Confusion) "But we already have a Chairman. What happened?"
                  - "Nothing. What do you mean? He is returning from a meeting in RJ. We have to PICK him from the Airport." (It should have been, "PICK him UP")

This is one of those situations where too many doubts arise, simply because of a missed preposition.