synchronicity strikes again

I just finished David Crystal's "The Story of Be", and Chapter 6 is "Visitational Be". He notes 

"During the twentieth century, it was increasingly common to see the verb used without the prepositional phrase. Usually, the visit is related to an occupation: the person has come and gone professionally. The location is taken for granted." 

The examples in the book (Has the doctor been? The gardeners have been. You can tell me daughter and her dogs have been.) seemed odd to my American ear.

So does this (See if Father Pancake has been). But it's clearly what he's talking about.