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Sesquipedalian101 Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
Mention About
I found the following sentence in Agatha Christie's "A Murder is Announced". It was uttered by an educated English lady:
"She certainly must have heard Dora mention about the lamp having been changed --- about its being..."
Is it right to say "mention about"?
"She certainly must have heard Dora mention about the lamp having been changed --- about its being..."
Is it right to say "mention about"?
Top answer
" Is it right to say " mention about "? She mentioned the time when I forgot to do the work. ('about' not required) 'Mentioned' means to 'talk about', so 'mentioned about' is like saying 'talk about about'.
- " Is it right to say " mention about "?
- She mentioned the time when I forgot to do the work.
- ('about' not required) 'Mentioned' means to 'talk about', so 'mentioned about' is like saying 'talk about about'.
- ( Oxford All The Right Words)
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9 Answers
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"She certainly must have heard Dora mention about the lamp having been changed --- about its being..."
Is it right to say "mention about"?
She mentioned the time when I forgot to do the work. ('about' not required)
'Mentioned' means to 'talk about', so 'mentioned about' is like saying 'talk about about'.
Is it right to say "mention about"?
She mentioned the time when I forgot to do the work. ('about' not required)
'Mentioned' means to 'talk about', so 'mentioned about' is like saying 'talk about about'.
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It certainly seems odd to me. One could say, "did she mention anything about......".
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According to NTC's Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, 'mention' only pairs with the prepositions 'to' and 'in'. Examples:
"We mentioned you in regard to nominations for the congress."
"Please mention it to your father."
'About' is not listed, and definitely sounds incorrect to my ear.
"We mentioned you in regard to nominations for the congress."
"Please mention it to your father."
'About' is not listed, and definitely sounds incorrect to my ear.
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Thank you GLS and Philip,
The grammar and usage books that I have consulted have always said that "mention about" is wrong. In our part of the world, some of us, to whom English is not our mother tongue, have been using "mention", "discuss", "talk" interchangeably in the following sense, and found the usage fine:
"He discussed/talked/mentioned about the problem last
The grammar and usage books that I have consulted have always said that "mention about" is wrong. In our part of the world, some of us, to whom English is not our mother tongue, have been using "mention", "discuss", "talk" interchangeably in the following sense, and found the usage fine:
"He discussed/talked/mentioned about the problem last
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I would still consider "mention about" wrong.
In the example sentence, the speaker was probably just distracted and left out the word "something". Or maybe this is just the idiosyncratic way that she speaks.
mentioned something about is fine, and it is what is meant in the example.
CJ
In the example sentence, the speaker was probably just distracted and left out the word "something". Or maybe this is just the idiosyncratic way that she speaks.
mentioned something about is fine, and it is what is meant in the example.
CJ
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He discussed/talked/mentioned about the problem last night".
He talked about the problem is correct.
As CJ said, mentioned/discussed about is incorrect. I also said earlier that mentioned about is wrong.
Just because it's gaining currency in your country, it doesn't mean that mentioned/discussed about is correct.
He talked about the problem is correct.
As CJ said, mentioned/discussed about is incorrect. I also said earlier that mentioned about is wrong.
Just because it's gaining currency in your country, it doesn't mean that mentioned/discussed about is correct.
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Yoong LiatHe discussed/talked/mentioned about the problem last night".
He talked about the problem is correct.
As CJ said, mentioned/discussed about is incorrect. I also said earlier that mentioned about is wrong.
Just because it's gaining currency in your country, it doesn't mean t
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Some educated native speakers I consulted feel very strongly that "mention about" is alright.Hmmm. Very interesting. I shall keep my ears open to see when this opinion reaches my neighborhood! (I'm always the last to hear about these new fads!)
CJ
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SelvakumarIronically, it is not gaining currency in my country, but it is in its native country of origin, on both sides of the Atlantic. Some educated native speakers I consulted feel very strongly that "mention about" is alright.I can't speak for other English-speaking countries, but I don't recall hearing "mention about" in the US. It definit
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