Heard of AND heard about

Posted by James Briggs on March 04, 2005

In Reply to: Heard of AND heard about posted by Anil Namdeo on March 04, 2005

: Could you please tell me the difference in the meaning of 'heard of' and 'heard about'?
: Thanks

In my UK English 'heard of' usually refers to a person. 'Have you heard of David Beckham?'.
'Heard about' usually refers to something a little more remote than directly to a person. 'Have you heard about David Beckham's new boots/wife/socks/friend etc, etc?'
However, often the terms can be interchanged.