ENGLISH
REFERENCE

go on about

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford British English Informal

phr. v.. to talk about something for a long time in a way that is boring or annoying for other people.

phr. v.. to speak at length and repetitively about a specific topic, typically to the annoyance of the listener; functions as an intransitive or transitive verb with 'about'.


SIMPLE

He always goes on about his expensive new car.

CONTEXTUAL

I wish she would stop going on about her ex-boyfriend every time we meet for coffee.

COMPLEX

The lecturer went on about the importance of primary sources for nearly an hour, leaving little time for the actual seminar discussion.

Particles
on about
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
go + on + about + object
Usage

usually used in a negative way to describe someone who talks too much about one topic.

Teaching tip

this is a great phrase for teaching the 'annoyance' function of the present continuous, as in 'He's always going on about...'

Pitfall

He goes on about that he is rich.He goes on about being rich.the preposition 'about' must be followed by a noun or a gerund, not a 'that' clause.

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