Agree with Michael. On the other hand, I've seen "includes" used with an exhaustive list, and I find that misleading ... "includes" to me implies that the list is not exhaustive. Jim Rountree Lead Technical Writer Biosystems Division telephone +61 3 9211 7587 From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Michael Lewis Sent: Friday, 16 March 2012 2:26 PM To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: atw: Re: Usage survey: the expression "consists of" "Consist of" implies "this and only this" to me; not synonymous with "include". - Michael On 16 March 2012 14:17, Geoffrey <geoffrey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Hi austechies Can I get your feedback on how you interpret the expression "consists of" or "consisted of". In the following example: "Drug therapy consisted of 0.25 mg of digoxin per day and 40 mg of propranolol twice a day." do you read that as saying that the entire therapy included just digoxin and propranolol and nothing else? Or do you read it as saying that the therapy included digoxin and propranolol and possibly something else? Don't worry about what might or might not be correct (whatever that means). The issue is how you interpret "consisted of": as giving the full set of items or a sub-set of items. Cheers Geoffrey Marnell Principal Consultant Abelard Consulting Pty Ltd P: 03 9596 3456 M: 0419 574 668 F: 03 9596 3625 W: www.abelard.com.au <http://www.abelard.com.au/>