concerning

@Denkof Zwemmen - Any chance of some examples?

Denkof Zwemmen,

Is your outcry because of concerning being a preposition? The dictionary program on my computer lists concerning as a preposition. But in the case of 'causing concern', I think that is because concerning is a present participle not a preposition.

@Jasper - in its most common use, concerning is indeed a preposition - "He asked several questions concerning the future of the company.". But I think Denkof Zwemmen has noticed the present participle being used as an adjective, as in this example from a New Zealand website - "Conservative Party: TPPA: Lack of Transparency is Concerning" or this one from the States - "Placement of crosswalk is concerning to Ann Arbor parent".

I've found it listed in two dictionaries as an adjective, meaning "worrying or troublesome" - "The increase in crime in the area is very concerning." - http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/concerning_2 and - http://thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=concerning - but they seem to be the exception; most dictionaries I've looked at only list it as a preposition.

I'm pretty sure I've heard it used this way in BrE, and it seems quite unexceptional to me. I would imagine, however that it is only used in predicate position after the verb, and it would be unusual before a noun, as in "a concerning problem".

Someone has done a bit of research with Google here - http://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19755 - and seems to find it to be mainly a British phenomenon, attested to in the OED.

The Boston Globe also has an article on this - http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/theword/2009/11/a_concerning_us.html

A search of "is very concerning" in Google Books suggests it is especially used in medical contexts. - https://www.google.com/search?q=%22is%20very%20concerning%22&tbs=bks:1&lr=lang_en