Is "mention about" wrong?

Question

I was taught that "mention" and "discuss" are transitive verbs, so it's wrong to say:

#1 I mention about the problem.
#2 I discuss about the problem.

There shouldn't be "about" in the sentences. However, when I google "mention about",
there are 886,000 hits, and "discuss about" gets 1,680,000 hits.

Is it "still" wrong to say "mention about" and "discuss about"?

Thanks.

Ricky

Philip · Accepted Answer

Ricky06I was taught that "mention" and "discuss" are transitive verbs, so it's wrong to say:

#1 I mention about the problem.
#2 I discuss about the problem.

There shouldn't be "about" in the sentences. However, when I google "mention about",
there are 886,000 hits, and "discuss about" gets 1,680,000 hits.

Is it "still" wrong to say "mention about" and "discuss about"?

Thanks.

Ricky

We must remember that Google gives us what people (some totally uneducated in the fine art of language) say, rather than what is proper. I would say that neither 'mention' nor 'discuss' can be followed by 'about'. On the other hand, one can have a "discussion about" something, and one can make "mention of" something.

Marius Hancu · Answer

Fully agree with Philip.

Ricky06 · Answer

Philip We must remember that Google gives us what people (some totally uneducated in the fine art of language) say, rather than what is proper. I would say that neither 'mention' nor 'discuss' can be followed by 'about'. On the other hand, one can have a "discussion about" something, and one can make "mention of" something.

Thanks Philip. I understand that the Internet is full of errors. However, if there're a million of pages having the same mistake, can we assume that the wrong usage is accepted in some way?

Yoong Liat · Answer

Ricky06I was taught that "mention" and "discuss" are transitive verbs, so it's wrong to say:

#1 I mention about the problem.
#2 I discuss about the problem.

There shouldn't be "about" in the sentences. However, when I google "mention about",
there are 886,000 hits, and "discuss about" gets 1,680,000 hits.

'Mention' means 'talk about'. So "I mention about the problem" means "I talk about about the problem."
Similarly, 'discuss' means 'talk about'. So "I discuss about the problem" means '"I talk about about the problem."

If you google for 'unviersity' (the wrong spelling for 'university') you will get many hits. Does that mean that 'university' can be spelled that way? I hope this answers your question.

Best wishes

CalifJim · Answer

I checked the first couple of pages of Google hits for "mention about" and "discuss about" and most of them are totally wrong. Apparently it is a common mistake.

However, note that you will get hits on these combinations which are correct because mention (or discuss) goes in one phrase or clause and about goes in another.

There are many things to discuss | about this new software.
= There are many things about this new software to discuss.
You are discussing things (about the software), not 'discussing about' the software.

There is something I forgot to mention | about the restaurant.
= There is something about the restaurant that I forgot to mention.
You are mentioning something (that you forgot), not 'mentioning about' the restaurant.

Further, you will get hits where mention is not even a verb, but a noun.

The magazine gave a nice mention about the winner of the Nobel Prize.
This is not the act of 'mentioning about' the winner. This is saying something nice about the winner.

discuss about and mention about as prepositional verbs, followed by the object indicating what was discussed or mentioned, are incorrect.

CJ

Goodman · Answer

Jim,

You are "D" man!

CalifJim · Answer

Thanks, Goodman!  <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Anna Mills · Answer

Neither of the two should be followed with "about". I agree with Philip.

Anonymous · Answer

Superb explanation, thanks!

You should get onto the Government and get your teaching into National Curriculum! People only use incorrectwords and phrases because they hear them!

Anonymous · Answer

Absolutely. You do not discuss "about", discuss itself means talk about, so it would result in being a pleonasm. :-)

Is "mention about" wrong?

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