Mention About

[spenser]

I found the following sentence in Agatha Christie's "A Murder is Announced". It was uttered by an educated English lady:

"She certainly must have heard Dora mention about the lamp having been changed --- about its being..."

Is it right to say "mention about"?

[Casiopea]

Yes. "mention about" - Google Search

[spenser]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

Yes. "mention about" - Google Search

Thank you for your prompt reply.

The grammar and usage books that I have consulted have always said that "mention about" is wrong. In our part of the world, some of us, to whom English is not our mother tongue, have been using "mention", "discuss", "talk" interchangeably in the following sense, and found the usage fine:

"He discussed/talked/mentioned about the problem last night".

And without fail, whenever "about" followed "discuss" and "mention", our teachers marked it down as "wrong and unidiomatic".

Just as I get used to the 'correction', I am (now) shocked to discover that "mention about" is gaining currency.