ENGLISH
REFERENCE

fart about

phr. v..
C1 Advanced Oxford

phr. v.. to waste time doing silly or unimportant things instead of being productive.

phr. v.. to behave in a frivolous or aimless manner; to waste time on trivialities. Primarily British English, informal, and potentially offensive to some listeners.


SIMPLE

Stop farting about and finish your homework.

CONTEXTUAL

We spent the whole afternoon farting about in the garage instead of actually fixing the car.

COMPLEX

While the rest of the department worked toward the deadline, he was content to fart about with minor formatting issues that had no impact on the final report.

Particles
about
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
fart + about
Usage

highly informal and considered mildly vulgar; avoid in professional or polite settings.

Teaching tip

advise students that this is a British colloquialism; the American equivalent is often 'mess around' or 'fool around'.

Pitfall

He is farting about his work.He is farting about.this phrasal verb is usually intransitive; you do not 'fart about' a specific task, you just 'fart about' generally.

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