Hi
They were sitting in a small room knocking about/around her offer.
--- Is it a good sentence?
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Hi
They were sitting in a small room knocking about/around her offer.
--- Is it a good sentence?
Not to me. I can only guess at its meaning.
Doesn't the phrase "knock around/about" mean "to discuss something"? Knock around an idea.
Not to me, it doesn't.
I see that some dictionaries do give this meaning, but it's new to me. I have heard 'toss ideas about', but 'knock an offer about' does not work for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by GUEST2008
I've heard it.
She came up with what sounded like a good idea. We knocked it around for a while but in the end, we dismissed it.
HiQuote:
Originally Posted by emsr2d2
Do you also think that the word "offer" from my original sentence wouldn't work in this case?
I can think of several contexts where it would work fine.Quote:
Originally Posted by GUEST2008
If we were selling our house at an asking price of £200,000, and someone offered £180,000, we would probably knock the offer around for a while before deciding whether to accept it. In that case, we would discuss it and think about it.
If I applied for a couple of jobs and, after interview, I was offered both of them I would probably have to knock both offers around in order to work out which one I wanted more. "I have two job offers! They both sound great but I'm going to knock them around for a while before making my decision." In that case, I would probably think about them, write down the pros and cons and perhaps discuss them with my friends and family.
[not a teacher]
In AmE, I'm not sure I've heard "knock around/about" but the meaning is clear in context. (In fact, it just "sounds" like BrE :-)) I would have used "kick around" (not "kick about). (M-W e.g.:)
I've heard of ideas being "batted around", particularly in a meeting.