Find your center

October 18th, 2008 at 07:00am Barry Wood

Avoid “center around” when trying to convey “to have as a central point, focus of attention, etc.” The center of something is a point. A point can be surrounded, but a point cannot do the surrounding.

The point is, the phrase “center around” is nonsensical. Something can be “centered on” or “revolving around,” but “centered around” misses the point. Webster’s lists it as an “informal” usage, but I’m for logic here, especially since there are simple alternatives.

Entry Filed under: idiom, strict usage