| Utilizing Comprise |
[05 Aug 2008|06:54am] |
"Utilize" is now rarely used to mean anything other than "use" (once it meant "to make do with something not intended for the purpose"). Soon "use" may drop right out of the language, since why keep a nickel word when there's a five-dollar one for the purpose? Of course now there's no single word that means "to make do with something not intended for the purpose"; but hey, when we want to say we employed something in the use for which it was intended, we can sound edumacated.
"Comprise" was more difficult to start with, so it's less amazing that it's come to be used with the following "of" that was not so long ago included in its meaning. What really puzzles me about "comprise" is why people use it at all. "Utilize" I can see: it's three syllables to replace one, and what could be better than that? But "comprise" is two syllables to replace...well, two, usually.
Maybe I'm prejudiced because I never could keep a grip on the proper use of "comprise," so I mind its loss less.
1. The USA comprises 50 states.
2. Fifty states comprise the USA.
Say what? Both are correct? But...wait....
(Of course that just means it's a one-word synonym for "is made up of" or "make up," which really isn't all that odd; but still.)
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