Boss-across-the-hall update: comprise versus compose
Published by Becky S September 30th, 2004 in style & grammar, boss-across-the-hall
He is busy making a PowerPoint presentation for Important People. We had words.
Boss-across-the-hall: Please review these slides.
Me: [5 minutes later] Technically, what comprises the e-mail system is incorrect. The whole comprises its parts. The parts compose the whole.
BOTH: Really? Well, I like the way comprises sounds. I’ll keep it.
Me: What about The e-mail system comprises the following items…?
BOTH: Nah.
Me: I can’t work under these conditions. I quit.
Well, I don’t really quit. I suspect that boss-across-the-hall’s recent rash grammar decisions are stress-related (his dog recently turned yellow and was diagnosed with jaundice). Also, I have to give him props for one-upping my conference bike idea. He proposed adding a team Zeppelin to next year’s budget (available through Neiman Marcus–only $10,000,000 plus parking). Indeed, the soulless office park is composed of many smart-asses.
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“Well, I like the way comprises sounds. I’ll keep it.”
Boss-across-the-hall sounds like he is a bit across the hall.
He’s been a little loopy lately. He was singing “Strangers in the Night” while putting the final touches on the presentation.
This picture appears in the back of my mind whenever someone mentions zeppelins. (Yeah, it happens a lot.) It’s not Photoshopped — I scanned it out of some book. Really.
Note: it looks like the blimp is soaring above the Drexel Shaft.
Not Photoshopped, eh? Yeah, and a bear grabbed my ass.
Could you please elaborate on the Drexel shaft? I attended that fine institution but never heard much talk about the shaft.
I’m extremely surprised that you’ve never heard much about the Shaft. The Princeton Review even talks about it in their Drexel writeup. It’s quite amusing.
Well — according to Wikipedia:
When people think they are getting a bad deal from the University, they often refer to it as getting the “Drexel Shaft”. The Drexel Shaft is also a structure on campus, and according to university legend the structure grows one more inch every time a student is shafted.
For a wonderful Shaft animation (clean) created by Newgrounds‘ Tom Fulp, see drexelshaft.com.
Go Dragons.
I was going to plead ignorance due to attending Drexel as a part-time grad student. The experience consisted of visiting the Rush building once a week for 3 years–hardly a way to become immersed in all things Drexel.
But then I asked boss-across-the-hall, who went through the same program, and he knew all about the shaft, the website, and the game.
So it really is extremely surprising that I didn’t know about the shaft.
Oh, wait…boss-across-the-hall was in the program full time. So I stand by my original excuse.
No, it’s actually a good thing you haven’t heard about it. If you had, it would probably mean you were royally screwed by Drexel.
We have a blimp, uh, blimping? around DC right now. Do they fly? Float? What?
Anyway, they just alerted us so we wouldn’t think it was a UFO. Because they like to keep us informed.
Dave, I wouldn’t say I was royally screwed. However, the way the MSIS credits work is a big scam:
- MSIS requires more credit hours to complete than most graduate programs
- Not to worry! The classes are 4 credits instead of 3, so you’re not actually taking more classes than the average graduate program
- But….we will charge you by the credit hour
It was really my former employer who got the brunt of the Drexel shaft.
Theresa: I see that the defense department is testing a blimp in DC today–is that the one you saw? In the article the blimp is flying.