Meryl's Notes Blog

Finally! I added a 5th page of Gotchas with lots of yearly mistakes. Groovy. Buck Banks wrote me an email about by Webreference article on Confusing Word Couples. He did a better job than I could in explaining the difference between comprise and compose. Here’s what he said:

In my experience, the most common mistake is to use “comprise” when “compose” is correct. A fine and simple explanation of this is given by the Associated Press Handbook: Compose means to create or put together. It commonly is used in both the active and passive voices: She composed a song. The United States is composed of 50 states. the zoo is composed of many animals. Comprise means to contain, to include all or embrace. It is best used only in the active voice, followed by a direct object: The United States comprises 50 states. The jury comprises five men and seven women. The zoo comprises many animals.

Thanks to Rob and MizDos for the linkage!

Anyone going to Web Design World in New Orleans next month? I am trying to get there - Working on it. Let me know if you go and maybe we can meet… unless you’re a weirdo. It’s gonna have Zeldman, Molly, Finck, and more.

Been going to User Friendly Comics for lots of laughs since someone close to me is a tech support manager.