Confessions of the Linguistic Spy

Photo credit: projectpoint.in

Yesterday I was picking up my husband from work and when I arrived he was chatting to his colleagues, seeming somewhat reluctant to go home. It turned out he was telling them about our camping plans for this weekend and one of his colleagues promised to tag along. He was only joking, of course, as camping is not really his thing. As for us, we’re going! In about 4-5 hours.

‘To tag along‘ means to go somewhere with someone else although you are not needed (MacMillan Dictionary).

Some more examples of where you can along to:

– True to that last role, she invited all those present to a drink around the corner afterwards. A remarkable third of the audience tagged along. She laughed and cried with each and every one of them (The Economist).

– Until the Olympic reporting rules came into force in January last year, foreign journalists based in China needed government approval for any reporting trip outside their city of residence. Officials often insisted on tagging along. Many journalists would travel without permission, but local police often stopped them, seized their notebooks and expelled them from their areas (The Economist).

– A 14-year-old girl lands the lead role in a short film being shot in Aberdeenshire after tagging along to an audition (BBC).

– It was Pam who had wanted to come to this lunchtime radio recording (Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Showcase) and Gloria had tagged along in the hope that at least one of the comics might be funny, although her expectations were not high (Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn)