Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to bandy about

to bandy about

11 6.8
Talk about an idea or name without careful thought
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈbændi əˈbaʊt/
translation icon : barajar
  • So because you hear the term bandied about full faith and credit of the US government is why the dollar is valuable.

And I would say that he people bandy about the word genius quite casually.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • So all those claims which were being bandied about I think are provably misguided or wrong.

    The Rich Dad Channel

  • There was even a commonly bandied about notion that women are not visual.

    Blog text (27)

  • Not really about this story, but about race, which is being bandied about here.

    Blog text (24)

  • It's often, you know, bandied about with allegations of fraud.

  • There are a couple of answers being bandied about and explored in a recent article.

    Blog text (9)

  • Let me mention something because that word, you're right, it's really being bandied about commonly and people have got it wrong.

  • In bioethics, the term dignity is bandied about a lot without people really thinking deeply about what it means.

  • Community is a word that is bandied about like a panacea for all our woes.

    Blog text (6)

  • The word 'world-class' has been much bandied about whenever and wherever debates and discussions on academic excellence crop up.

    Academic text (2005)

  • The rumor was bandied about at work, but no one took it seriously.

Synonyms

to rumor
vsto bandy about
  • US
74 3.9

To tell people a story that may not be true

is about casual discussion and passing ideas rather than focusing on truth
to throw around
vsto bandy about
  • Informal
27 4.5

To say words or names often without thinking

focuses more on casual discussion and spreading ideas than careless name use
to buzz about
vsto bandy about
  • Informal
14 3.4

Talk excitedly about something, often sharing news or rumors

is calmer casual mention rather than excited or energetic talk
to kick around
vsto bandy about
  • Informal
9 4.6

Discuss an idea informally without making a decision

is used for casual passing and mention rather than formal consideration
to bandy
vsto bandy about
3 7.0

To mention an idea or rumor again and again without serious thought

is the phrasal version adding the sense of passing ideas around
to bounce around
vsto bandy about
  • Informal
1 3.9

Discuss ideas informally with other people

is more about casual mention rather than deliberate idea exchange

Antonyms

to suppress
176 4.8

To stop public protest by force or by people in power

How Serious

to debate
474 2.8
to discuss
∞ 1.6
to bandy about
11 6.8
to mention
∞ 1.0
to gossip
  • Informal
27 1.3

Surface Forms

bandy about infinitive
bandying about present participle
bandies about third person singular
bandied about past
bandied about past participle

Morphology

bandy + about

The meaning 'to discuss or circulate casually' is directly derivable from combining 'bandy' (to pass around or casually mention) with 'about' (concerning/around), where the preposition simply marks the topic or distribution. This is a straightforward compositional verb + preposition pattern rather than an idiom, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Bandy about may come from an old picture of people hitting a ball back and forth, because players would bandy a ball between them. So when a name or idea is bandied about, it is being 'passed around' or 'talked about' casually rather than carefully.