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Tucson Weather Today

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Did You Know . . .?

Benjamin Franklin wasn't trusted to write the Declaration of Independence because it was feared he would put a joke in it.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On January 14, 1963, George Wallace was inaugurated as the governor of Alabama, promising his followers, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" His inauguration speech was written by Ku Klux Klan leader Asa Carter.

In June 1963 he was forced to end his literal blockade of the University of Alabama and allow the enrollment of African-American students. In 1968, he made another strong run for president as the candidate of the American Independent Party and managed to get on the ballot in all 50 states. On Election Day, he drew 10 million votes from across the country.

In 1972, Governor Wallace returned to the Democratic Party for his third presidential campaign and was showing promising returns when Arthur Bremer shot him on May 15. Wallace was permanently paralyzed from the waist down.  In time, he gained the political support of Alabama's growing African-American electorate and in 1983 was elected Alabama governor for the last time. During the next four years, the man who had promised segregation forever made more African-American political appointments than any other figure in Alabama history.

He announced his retirement in 1986 and died in 1998.

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WORD FOR TODAY

comprise
verb
1. To consist of; be composed of.
2. To include; contain.

Usage Note: The traditional rule states that the whole comprises the parts and the parts compose the whole. In strict usage: The Union comprises 50 states. Fifty states compose (or constitute or make up) the Union. Even though careful writers often maintain this distinction, comprise is increasingly used in place of compose, especially in the passive: "The Union is comprised of 50 states." Surveys show that opposition to this usage is abating. In the 1960s, 53 percent of the Usage Panel found this usage unacceptable; in 1996, only 35 percent objected.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

David Shepard Smith, Jr.

(born January 14, 1964)

Shepard Smith is an American television news anchor. He is the former host of Fox Report with Shepard Smith and Studio B weekdays on Fox News Channel. As of October 2013, he is now anchor of "Shepard Smith Reporting" as well as the managing editor of the Breaking News Division.

Dorothy Faye Dunaway

(born January 14, 1941)

Faye Dunaway is an American actress. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1976 film Network. Dunaway was previously nominated for Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Chinatown (1974). She has starred in a variety of other successful films, including The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Little Big Man (1970), The Towering Inferno (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), and Mommie Dearest (1981).

Carl Weathers

(born January 14, 1948)

Carl Weathers is an American actor and former professional football player. He is best known for portraying Apollo Creed in the Rocky series of films, Dillon in Predator, Chubbs Peterson in Happy Gilmore and Little Nicky, and an exaggeratedly frugal fictionalized version of himself in the television series Arrested Development.

Holland Virginia Taylor

(born January 14, 1943[

Holland Taylor is an American actress of film, stage, and television, and playwright. Her notable television roles include Ruth Dunbar in Bosom Buddies, senator's wife Margaret Powers on Norman Lear's The Powers That Be, Judge Roberta Kittleson on The Practice and Evelyn Harper in Two and a Half Men. She is also the author of the solo play Ann, based on the life and work of Ann Richards.

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The lamentably common use of comprise as a synonym of compose or constitute is a wanton and indefensible weakening of our vocabulary.
--Ernest Gowers

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Is English Grammar Doomed?

Tucson Weather Today

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Every time I hear someone say "...comprised of..." it brings me closer to becoming hysterical. A few minutes ago Garret Lewis, on Tucson Radio Station KNST, spoke of brownies being "comprised of" something or other. Using correct grammar, he should have said either "composed of" or "...comprises..." because the word "of" is never correctly used with the word "comprised."

Dr. Grammar writes:

Comprise?

"Nothing is ever 'comprised of' something. To comprise means 'to contain or to embrace': The jury comprises seven women and five men.

All of the following mean the same thing:
The jury is composed of seven women and five men.
The jury is made up of seven women and five men.
Seven women and five men constitute the jury.
Seven women and five men make up the jury.

Even when used correctly, in my humble opinion, comprise and constitute tend to sound stilted. Some form of is made up of sounds better in most cases."

Why is this important? Because using a word incorrectly (as so many public speakers do these days) changes its meaning in the minds of the hearers who themselves repeat the mistake, which helps destroy the effectiveness of the English language, word by word by word.

There are, of course, times when incorrect grammar is excusable and even preferable, such as when words are purposely used incorrectly in a fiction story's character dialogue, or when consciously used incorrectly in a poem to make a point in an artistic manner.


Robert Brault once wrote: "Do not be surprised when those who ignore the rules of grammar also ignore the law. After all, the law is just so much grammar."

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Happy Birthday

John Grisham

Born February 8, 1955

(When I was 16)

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Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it is the sickening grammar that they use.
--Mark Twain