Definition
"Say about" is a qualifying phrase inserted into conveyances and contracts of sale to signal that a stated quantity is an estimate rather than a precise figure. When a contract describes a subject matter as containing, producing, or consisting of "say about" a given amount, the vendor or seller communicates that the quantity is uncertain and only approximately known at the time of contracting. The phrase operates as a disclaimer of warranty as to quantity, preventing a buyer from later claiming the seller made an absolute promise that a specific amount would be delivered or transferred.
The phrase functions identically to "more or less" and similar hedging expressions in transactional documents. Its legal effect is to absorb reasonable shortfalls or surpluses within the approximation, so that a deviation from the stated figure does not automatically constitute a breach or a misrepresentation, provided the deviation falls within what is reasonably understood as an estimate.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Say" as an interjection or adverb meaning "for example" or "approximately"; "about" meaning "roughly" or "around." Combined, "say about" in everyday speech would mean "roughly" or "for instance, approximately."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Say" could introduce an example or approximation in informal usage; "about" conveyed proximity to a number or quantity.
The legal meaning tracks the common meaning closely in one respect — both signal approximation. The critical gap is functional: in legal instruments, "say about" is not merely conversational hedging but a term of art that carries specific doctrinal weight, shielding the vendor from warranty liability for quantity shortfalls. Ordinary speakers using "say about" intend no such legal consequence.
Common Confusion
"Say about" is often treated as interchangeable with "more or less," "approximately," or "about." For practical legal purposes, the courts have treated these expressions as equivalent in effect. Researchers should not expect case law to draw sharp distinctions between them. The confusion that matters is between a contract that uses such qualifying language and one that states a quantity without qualification: only in the latter does an exact-quantity warranty arise by implication.
Why It Matters in Research
This phrase is almost exclusively encountered in historical conveyancing documents, land sale contracts, and commodity sale agreements predating modern standardized drafting practices. Researchers working in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century deed records, estate conveyances, or commercial sale contracts should treat "say about" as a signal that the stated quantity — acreage, board feet, bushels, spars, or any other fungible subject matter — was understood by both parties as approximate.
The practical trap in historical sources is assuming that a quantity stated after "say about" is authoritative for purposes of reconstructing a transaction. It is not. Courts applying this phrase gave sellers considerable latitude: Bouvier notes a case in which a sale of "say about 600" spars was satisfied by tender of 496 — a shortfall of roughly 17 percent.
Modern drafting has largely replaced "say about" with explicit approximation clauses, tolerance provisions, or defined quantity ranges. Researchers encountering the phrase in contemporary documents should treat it as archaic usage and consider whether modern interpretive rules for approximation language would apply differently in the relevant jurisdiction.
For corpus researchers: the phrase appears most densely in deeds, timber and crop sale contracts, and maritime cargo agreements. It rarely appears in litigation as a standalone issue; it typically arises as part of a broader breach of contract or warranty claim. When searching the Law Mind corpus, pair searches for "say about" with "more or less," "approximately," and "warranted quantity" to capture the full doctrinal neighborhood.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (both the first and second editions) gives identical treatment: "say about," like "more or less," guards the vendor against an implied warranty of quantity. The brevity of both entries reflects that by the time Black's was compiled, the phrase was already settled usage with predictable legal effect — courts did not struggle with it.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary adds the most useful texture. It identifies the phrase as one that "marks emphatically the vendor's purpose to guard himself against being supposed to have made an absolute promise as to quantity" and supplies a concrete illustration: the 600-spar case, where tender of 496 satisfied the contract. Bouvier also cross-references additional authorities, suggesting the phrase had a modest but real body of case law behind it.
All three sources agree on the core function. None addresses what constitutes an unreasonable deviation — the point at which an approximation clause will not save a vendor from liability for a gross shortfall. That question was left to case-by-case adjudication and is not resolved by the dictionary entries alone.
Jurisdictional Note
No significant modern jurisdictional variation applies because the phrase is archaic in active drafting. Historically, American and English courts treated "say about" and equivalent approximation language consistently. Researchers working in a specific jurisdiction should consult that jurisdiction's nineteenth-century contract and conveyancing case law if the exact tolerance for deviation is at issue.