| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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3. Word Choice: New Uses, Common Confusion, and Constraints
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| § 3. about |
| The preposition about is traditionally used to refer to the relation between a narrative and its subject: a book about Cezanne, a movie about the Boston Massacre. Lately people have extended this use beyond narratives to refer to the relation between various kinds of nouns and the things they entail or make manifest: The party was mostly about showing off their new offices. You don’t understand what the women’s movement is about. This usage probably originates with the familiar expression That’s what it’s all about, but remains controversial. Fifty-nine percent of the Usage Panel rejected this use of about in the example A designer teapot isn’t about making tea; it is about letting people know that you have a hundred dollars to spend on a teapot. | 1 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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