Can you please explain it?
*****
NOT A TEACHER *****
(1) The only thing I have been able to find comes from Professor
Quirk's
A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, which
many people feel is the most complete grammar book available (although
it is
not recommended for beginners).
(2) Professor Quirk (along with his associates, who also deserve
credit) says this (in my words):
We use
about with verbs such as
tell, speak, talk.
The good professor says that we can also use
of, but " [
Of] is a
somewhat rarer and more literary alternative." In other words,
ordinary people like me would use "about," and very formal writing or
upper-class people might prefer "of."
(3) Tom: Everybody is speaking
about Martha.
Mona: Why?
Tom: Her boyfriend is 15 years younger than she.
Mona: Does Martha know that she is being spoken
about behind
everyone's back?
Tom: I don't think the dear does.
*****
I think (only
think) that you could say:
Does Martha know that she is being spoken
of behind everyone's
back?
Since I do not come from the upper classes, I would feel unsure about
using "of."
*****
Here are some quotations I found by googling:
The very persons spoken
of in these official papers.
The person thus spoken
of.
If the person meant is identical with the person spoken
of.
The person spoken
of is being praised by one who loves him.
(I think --
think -- that these
of's could be replaced with
about's.)
*****
NOT A TEACHER *****
