atw: Re: Usage survey: the expression "consists of"

  • From: Howard Silcock <howard.silcock@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:38:13 +1100

Now Geoffrey...

I hope you're going to let us in on why you're asking such a ridiculous
question! Will your next question be whether 'I went with my wife' implies
that I'm married? Yes, there may be some people who don't know what
'consists' means, but are they likely to admit it on this list?

Howard

On 16 March 2012 15:19, Anne Casey <writan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>  I edited every one of my daughter's assignments for her paramedic degree,
> so I'm pretty confident in saying that the drugs prescribed for the
> patient's heart condition are digoxin and propranolol. There may also be
> other types of therapies - for example exercise - but no other drugs _for
> that condition_.
>
> /anne...
>
>
> At 02:17 PM 16/03/2012, you 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
>
>
>

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