Re:AmEx: "We discourage the use of special characters becaus...
by JadeNB on Monday February 08, 2010 @07:12PM
(#1111111)
I believe that that is not correct, and that correct usage says that the whole comprises its parts, the parts compose the whole, and the whole is composed of its parts.
> Although it has been in use since the late 18th century, sense 3 [the relevant one for this discussion] is still attacked as wrong. Why it has been singled out is not clear …. You should be aware, however, that if you use sense 3 you may be subject to criticism for doing so, and you may want to choose a safer synonym such as compose or make up.
As with all prescriptions, this is not universally agreed upon; Merriam Webster (the first Google hit for ‘comprise’, at http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/comprise) says (say?):
> Although it has been in use since the late 18th century, sense 3 [the relevant one for this discussion] is still attacked as wrong. Why it has been singled out is not clear …. You should be aware, however, that if you use sense 3 you may be subject to criticism for doing so, and you may want to choose a safer synonym such as compose or make up.