Heard of AND heard about

Posted by James Briggs March 04, 2005In reply to Heard of AND heard about posted by Anil Namdeo on March 04, 2005

Could you please tell me the difference in the meaning of 'heard of' and 'heard about'?
Thanks

In my UK English 'heard of' usually refers to a person. 'Have you heard of David Beckham?'.
'Heard about' usually refers to something a little more remote than directly to a person. 'Have you heard about David Beckham's new boots/wife/socks/friend etc, etc?'
However, often the terms can be interchanged.

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