Harp on about

[Bassim]

I have tried to use "harp on about" in my sentence. In AmE is "harp on sth". I am wondering if my sentences are correct.

Maria harped on about Peter's smoking and drinking habits. He told her she should mind her own business or find a new husband. He was never going to kick the habits anyway.

 

[Lynxear]

Yes, this is quite a good set of sentences.

"To harp on" means "to nag" in an extremely irritating way. You captured this well in your writing.

 

[GoesStation]

Your text works fine in American English, too. I don't think we harp on something. People who perseverate harp on about the subject.

 

[tedmc]

Apparently, "harp on something" is much more common than "harp on about something".
http://fraze.it/n_search.jsp?q=harp+on&l=0

After all, "to harp" is a continuous action, so "on" seems redundant.

 

[GoesStation]

In two of the fraze.it quotes, harp is the noun (the musical instrument), not the verb.

 

[Tdol]

It has the meaning of harp on (about) something for me. (BrE speaker)

 

[Lynxear]

har·py

ˈhärpē

noun Greek & Roman Mythology

plural noun: harpies

• a rapacious monster described as having a woman's head and body and a bird's wings and claws or depicted as a bird of prey with a woman's face.
  • a grasping, unpleasant woman.

I think the verb comes from the older English word as described above. Actually it describes my ex-wife as well {sigh}.