How about over there?

[herbivorie]

I had always thought a noun or a gerund should come after "How about", like "How about that place?" or "How about going there?"

However, today I heard someone (a non-native speaker of English) say "How about over there?" She was suggesting having a meetng in a room that was "over there".

Is this sentence correct? I'm not sure what part of speech "over there" is, but can it be placed after "How about"?

 

[Raymott]

Yes, it's very normal. "Over there" is an adverbial of place.
Of course, it's not a sentence. The obvious meaning, in context, is "How about we meet in the meeting room over there?" In this case, "over there" is a reduced adjectival clause, from "the meeting room which is over there."

"How about" can be followed by almost anything in the right context.