Notifications
Clear all

I'm all about using imprecise language

2 Posts
2 Users
0 Reactions
0 Views
Posts: 0
Guest
(@Anonymous)
Joined: 1 second ago

I hate the rampant use of the phrase "all about". "I'm all about the latest fashions!" "I'm all about vegan food!" "I'm all about using imprecise language!"

If I was a teacher, I'd make a point of teaching the kids that: "Swear words are to be avoided because they stifle the growth of your vocabulary". To me, the phrase "all about" does the same thing. It substitutes a vague catch-all for every instance in which you want to express that you are somehow passionate about something.

This isn't even a situation of the simple substitution of "all about" in place of another phrase; it's a construct or formula that has somehow become acceptable.

I hope I'm not alone on this one. Cheers.

(won't let me edit the title to fix that mistake, oops >< )

1 Reply
Posts: 1532
Admin
(@grantbarrett)
Member
Joined: 18 years ago

Chris, I fixed the title for you.

Rgarding "all about the": I'm not sure I see the problem with it. It's pretty clear to me that if someone says, "I'm all about the benjamins," then they mean, "I am mainly concerned with money." It's a general expression of interest that does its job.

There's a newly revised entry for "about" in the Oxford English Dictionary online which includes as one of its sense, "to be (all) about: (a) to have as subject matter, to be concerned with; (b) to consist of essentially, to have as point or purpose; that is what it is all about: that is the reality of a particular situation or of life in general; (c) to be principally concerned with; to be in favour of or fond of." The earliest citations date to 1400 or so, meaning that to use "about" in the way you're describing is quite old.

Reply