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Glite Dictionary
to see a man about

to see a man about

1 9.9
To leave and say you have private matters without giving details
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : ver a alguien
  • Excuse me, I need to see a man about something important.

Examples

  • He said he was going to see a man about a dog and left the meeting early.

  • Whenever she wanted to leave discreetly, she claimed she had to see a man about something.

  • I need to see a man about something.

  • Excuse me, I have to see a man about my car.

  • I'm heading out for a moment; I need to see a man about a dog.

  • Excuse me for a second, I have to see a man about an appointment.

  • She smiled and said, "I'll be right back; I'm just going to see a man about a business deal."

Antonyms

to stay
∞ 1.0

To remain in one place and not leave

Surface Forms

see a man about infinitive

Morphology

see + a + man + about

The phrase is a conventional, euphemistic idiom whose use to mean ‘leave to attend to private/undisclosed business’ (or as a polite way to excuse oneself) is not predictable from the literal meanings of 'see' (visit), 'man' (male) and 'about' (concerning). A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would most likely infer a literal visit to a man rather than the idiomatic excuse; this pragmatic, culture-specific usage is therefore opaque.

Etymology

See a man about comes from a joking, vague phrase people once used like 'see a man about a dog' when they wanted to leave without saying why. It gives the image of going to meet someone about something small or private, so today people use it as a polite excuse 'to leave' or 'hide the real reason'.