knock about

[GUEST2008]

Hi

They were sitting in a small room knocking about/around her offer.

--- Is it a good sentence?

 

[5jj]

Not to me. I can only guess at its meaning.

 

[GUEST2008]

Doesn't the phrase "knock around/about" mean "to discuss something"? Knock around an idea.

 

[Rover_KE]

Not to me, it doesn't.

 

[5jj]

Doesn't the phrase "knock around/about" mean "to discuss something"? Knock around an idea.

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.

 

[emsr2d2]

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.

 

[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.

Hi

Do you also think that the word "offer" from my original sentence wouldn't work in this case?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi

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.

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.

 

[BobSmith]

[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.: <the board spent the afternoon kicking around the feasibility of opening an overseas office>)

 

[JMurray]

I've heard of ideas being "batted around", particularly in a meeting.

 

[Martin Dansky]

This expression is new to me when referring to discussing an idea. If I were to knock someone around/about that could infer some violence was applied to that other person or as in the case of playing a competitive sport with a ball one could say the ball got knocked around. The use of "tossed about' could be used to express the sense of having the idea discussed in a forum until a consensus is obtained.