Dear Mister Language Person: I Am Curious About The Expression, Part Of This Complete Breakfast.

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Dear Mister Language Person: I am curious about the expression, Part
of this complete breakfast. The way it comes up is, my 5-year-old
will be watching TV cartoon shows in the morning, and they'll show a
commercial for a children's compressed breakfast compound such as
Froot Loops or Lucky Charms, and they always show it sitting on a
table next to some actual food such as eggs, and the announcer always
says: Part of this complete breakfast. Don't that really mean,
Adjacent to this complete breakfast, or On the same table as this
complete breakfast? And couldn't they make essentially the same claim
if, instead of Froot Loops, they put a can of shaving cream there, or a
dead bat?

Answer: Yes.
-- Dave Barry, Tips for Writer's

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