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#70312
05/17/2002 4:45 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
If you had asked me before yesterday, I would have said, "The USA is comprised of fifty states." And I would have been wrong. Plain flat wrong. "The USA comprises fifty states."
I've no idea where I learned this wrong, and I was wondering if anyone else would have made the same mistake.
TEd
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#70313
05/17/2002 4:51 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322 |
Perhaps simply confusing it with 'composed of'. I'm guessing it's a fairly common mistake, judging from what I've heard a lot of people say.
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#70314
05/17/2002 5:10 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
A very picky point, if any:
comprise:
3 to make up; form; constitute: in this sense still regarded by a few as a loose usage !a nation comprised of thirteen States"
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#70315
05/17/2002 5:19 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
It's one of those words I have to think about before using, every single time. It's misused so often that I expect, give or take a decade, eventually the erroneous application will be acceptable. Language is how the people use it--language comprises incorrect usage that eventually becomes acceptable. Here's the usage note from AHD:
"While this distinction is still maintained by many writers, comprise is increasingly used, especially in the passive, in place of compose: The Union is comprised of 50 states. In an earlier survey, a majority of the Usage Panel found this use of comprise unacceptable."
Things will change as the years pass, and comprise, so used, will be acceptable. The fun is predicting when the blessed event will occur.
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#70316
05/17/2002 5:42 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>And I would have been wrong. Plain flat wrong.
better spread the word, quickly. it won't be for long.
()
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