# What does 'just about' mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2019, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545 "2019-09-01T03:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/61 "2019-09-05T06:17:32Z")
What does “she just about finished the marathon” mean? _ **all** _ it means is that the narrator has a poor grasp of grammar. Deducing anything further from that statement requires more data, either about the event being reported or about the mental viewpoint of the narrator. From my own perspective, it is indicative of a female runner currently in a marathon and approaching the finish line but not there yet. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/62 "2019-09-05T15:13:21Z")
What about that is poor grammar? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/63 "2019-09-05T16:46:43Z")
> [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > From my own perspective, it is indicative of a female runner currently in a marathon and approaching the finish line but not there yet. She just about finished the marathon: finished is past tense, it’s over and she just about (almost but not quite) finished. She has just about finished the marathon: has finished is present progressive/present perfect tense, still in progress but near to successful completion Not pointing fingers, but only because that’s rude. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/64 "2019-09-05T17:38:51Z")
> [@Smudge777](#): > > In my adulthood, I’ve primarily heard ‘just about’ meaning ‘only just’ or ‘by the skin of my teeth’. This is not “just about” but rather “just barely.” ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/65 "2019-09-05T21:50:43Z")
In Ireland, it’s “barely”. /on the phone/ - Can you hear me? - Just about. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/66 "2019-09-05T22:24:31Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > It’s a rare expression To add to the chorus, it’s certainly not a rare expression here as well. Common idiom meaning “nearly finished.” Clearly, it’s used differently in the UK, at least, as I see from this thread, but I’m just remarking about its frequency in this post. And, while it is typically used to refer to an event in progress, but I wouldn’t say it’s unusual in the past, either. Though, like you noted, typically as part of a compound sentence: “I had just about finished cleaning up the house for guests when I realized they weren’t coming this week, but next.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/67 "2019-09-06T02:02:07Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > To me, it definitely does NOT mean #1. It might mean #2 (so I picked this), but not the clearest way to phrase this. > I checked the locations of the respondents. It seems that nearly everyone who picked #1 is from the Midwest or West of the US. (I was raised in the East of the US). So, it seems to be a little more specific than the geographic range noted in the previous post. > > (If this usage originated in the Midwest, there’s a chance it parallels some expression in German — like the Upper Midwest phrase “come with.”). > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I picked #1 and I’ve lived in New York all my life. I picked #1 and I’m a lifelong New Englander. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/68 "2019-09-06T11:43:23Z")
Okay, I will try to add this phrase and its most common meaning to my vocabulary, as if I were learning something in a foreign language. I’ll mentally add “to” to the phrase, and all will be fine: “I was just about TO finish cooking dinner when…”, or “She was just about TO complete the race [when something happened that prevented her completing it].” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545/69 "2019-09-06T11:49:10Z")
> [@Moris](#): > > In Ireland, it’s “barely”. > > /on the phone/ > > - Can you hear me? > - Just about. Aha! It’s my Kelly DNA then (even if I’m only 12.5% Irish…). 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-just-about-mean/839545.md?page=3)