Post #2388036

One for the "careful writers" (to steal from Theodore Bernstein): COMPOSE and COMPRISE are not interchangeable in the formal register. Some writers maintain the distinction regardless of the formality they're using. I tend to let it go when I see one used incorrectly in dialogue; when I see it in narrative, I leave a comment. It's up to the client whether to change the word. "Compose" means "to make up, to be an ingredient/portion in" (my definition, not a dictionary's). The animals compose the zoo. (They are the parts of it. They make it up.) "Comprise" means "to be made up of, to include." The zoo comprises the animals. (It is made up of them.) The parts compose the whole; the whole comprises the parts. The difference isn't hard to grasp, but for whatever reason, it feels like it is. Use this ignore it, whatever. I'm just putting it up here because it's one of the most common misuse cases. Garner rates the errors ("is comprised of" for "comprises" and "comprise" for "make up/constitute") at Language Change Index stages 4 and 3, respectively. Given there are 5 stages, we're almost to the "who cares" stage with the first, and "only grammar peeves worry about it" with the second. I'm a proud grammar peeve who restrains herself in public, using whatever register is appropriate for the setting and audience. When I'm working, though, the gloves are off. #AmEditing #GUMmyStuff