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Heard of AND heard about

Posted by Bob on March 04, 2005

In Reply to: Heard of AND heard about posted by James Briggs 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.

I was going to say that in US usage, they're almost interchangable ... but as I thought about it, one might say "have you heard about the car crash yesterday" where they would never say "have you heard of the car crash." It seems "heard of" is restricted to the meaning "are you familiar with ______ (add noun or pronoun or unfamiliar term)?" "Heard about" on the other glove, means "have you been made aware of _______?"

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