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Someone told me that I shouldn't use the phrase discuss about, but should say, instead, discuss (the topic).

He said discuss means talk about and using discuss about is like saying talk about about, which is redundant.

Is he correct? Could somebody elaborate on this?

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    @Susan Well answered below. I further edited simply to remove the redundant double negative.
    – WS2
    Jan 19, 2014 at 7:36
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    does anyone know why is it off-topic? I foundit very useful
    – Line
    Feb 15, 2021 at 11:35

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Your friend is correct. You can discuss something, or you can talk about it, but discuss about is redundant for the reason you identified.

discuss: to speak with another or others about

But if you want to use the word about, you can have a conversation about, confer about, debate about, or even have a powwow about.

Most of the other synonyms for discuss don't take about, nor is it needed to converse (or debate).

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    +1, although I would really prefer debate x, rather than debate about x.
    – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica
    Jan 19, 2014 at 7:38
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    I just saw this expression "discuss about" in a reputable online publication, attributed to an editor of a scientific journal: "A paper on field theory delivers a wake-up call to academics" physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.20170803a/full Quote: “In a scientific paper we discuss about science, not about life.” So it is not so clear cut as you seem to present...
    – mathreader
    Aug 23, 2017 at 1:44
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    @mathreader - This is what I can offer, and all I can offer: I was a Molecular Biologist, then a physician. I have read hundreds of scientific papers, and I was an avid reader of all kinds of literature until recently. If I saw that ("we discuss about science, not about life"), I would think someone's editor was asleep on the job. Just because you spot an error in a publication doesn't make the error correct.
    – anongoodnurse
    Aug 23, 2017 at 3:12
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    @mathreader The statement should read, “In a scientific paper we have discussions about science, not about life.” Or, "...discuss science, not life." Or, even, more accurately, "...we write about science, not life." This is what I can offer. I have read hundreds of scientific papers, and I was an avid reader until recently. If I saw that ("we discuss about science, not about life"), I would think someone's editor was asleep on the job. If you spot an error in a publication, that doesn't make the error "correct".
    – anongoodnurse
    Sep 5, 2018 at 19:39
  • @mathreader The quote itself was already a direct quote of reported speech. The writer was telling us what was said to him, not writing that himself. "Discuss about" is extremely common in Indian English, and possibly neighbouring Englishes. There's a good chance the reputable online publication is directly quoting English containing a common mistake made by an Indian L2 English speaker.
    – hippietrail
    Aug 17 at 12:20
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I agree with your friend. It is redundant to write "discuss about." The definition of "discuss" is "talk about;" so, when you write "discuss about," substituting the definition of "discuss," you're saying "talk about about." Other than redundancy consider this; the 1st use of "about" is an adverb which is how I think you are using it, and as such it could be used to modify the verb "discuss," but "about" used as an adverb means "almost" or "nearly." Think about it; are you "almost" or "nearly" discussing something?

An alternative use of "about" is as a preposition. If to write or to say ". . . discuss the . . . " as your friend suggests is uncomfortable for you i.e. it doesn't roll off the tongue as if something is missing, you might want to use the noun form of the word "discuss," and reconstruct your sentence to read " . . . discussion on the. . . " or ". . . discussion about the . . . " where the prepositional phrase beginning with "on" or "about" offers you the chance to describe topic of the discussion [and is easier on your tongue and ears.]

There are two sources I consult want when I'm not sure of something. They are merriam-webster.com and dictionary.com which offers a free app for your Phone or Pad and a very moderately priced version without advertisements. In both; the free versions cover most of the grammar/spelling questions most of us have.

I hope I've helped.

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