phrasal verb: to brush on sth.

[nico]

Hi

I've been wondering about the phrasal verb "to brush on sth." as in

We only had time to brush on the subject. (instead of "to touch on sth.")

I doesn't seem to be used widely. Is it generally recognized as an exisiting phrasal verb or is it more an idiosyncrasy that few speakers use?

Cheers from Switzerland

Nico

[colloquium]

I have never come across such a phrase.

There is the phrase to brush up (on) something, which means to improve one's knowledge of something.

I had to brush up on my maths for this engineering course.


I am not a teacher.

[Raymott]

Hi

I've been wondering about the phrasal verb "to brush on sth." as in

We only had time to brush on the subject. (instead of "to touch on sth.")

I doesn't seem to be used widely. Is it generally recognized as an exisiting phrasal verb or is it more an idiosyncrasy that few speakers use?

Cheers from Switzerland

Nico

I haven't heard of it. Perhaps it means "broach the subject".

[RonBee]

It is a new one to me too. Offhand I would say the writer meant to say brush up on but inadvertently left out the up.

[jirikoo]

i indeed use this phrasal verb once at a time. Yeah, as implied in above posts it has a couple meanings:

1) to touch on sth, to mention. Eg. We have brushed on the theme only shortly.
2) to practise sth. eg. Start brushing on your Rrussian since you will need it.

It a transitive phrasal verb unseparable thus the object goes always after the particle "on".

[Raymott]

Yeah, as implied in above posts it has a couple meanings:

Actually, all of the above posts say "to brush on" has no known meaning at all.

[vil]

I'm not a teacher.

Hi nico,

There are my 2 cents.

brush up on = review, refresh one's memory, as in

“Nell brushed up on her Spanish before going to Honduras.”

Regards,

V.