We had an English test today and the correct answer to one question was "I am not about this week. I work in Romania" Is this correct and if yes what does it mean?
-
About: In the area or vicinity; near:I spoke to a few spectators standing about.thefreedictionary.com/about– user66974Commented Dec 12, 2014 at 10:46
-
So when you say you're not about it means basically that you're not around?– user101868Commented Dec 12, 2014 at 10:52
-
3Yes, that's exactly what it means, though around would be more common.– Janus Bahs JacquetCommented Dec 12, 2014 at 11:04
-
Although, it is possible and an equally valid grammatical statement, if the speaker was a personified agenda or list of topics and was telling others that it is literally not about the current week and unrelatedly that it works in Romania.– JimCommented Dec 12, 2014 at 18:05
-
1I think using about to mean around may be more common in BrE than AmE. In America, this usage is rarely heard outside idioms like out and about.– BarmarCommented Dec 12, 2014 at 23:28
|
Show 1 more comment
4 Answers
It's correct.
"To be about" is a common informal idiom in some forms of English for being in the vicinity understood from context (your workplace, your home, your home town, your normal haunts, etc). If someone will be about then while you may not be guaranteed to see them any given time it's a possibility. If someone isn't about then it's an impossibly.
I understand that the expression is more common in Britain and Ireland than elsewhere.
answered Jan 6, 2015 at 4:09
I shall not be about this week/I shall not be around this week/I will not be around this week/I shall not be here this week. I will/shall not be here this week is better English.
To be about - to be near by So, 'Can I speak to Dan ? Well, he's about here somewhere'.
Whereabouts - precisely where.
So, 'Whereabouts do you come from?', and 'His whereabouts remain secret'
Maybe British English, not American. American would be "I'm around (or available) this week. I work in Romania." Maybe British people say "about", but it will probably sound stuffy to most American ears.
