were centered around outdoor, warm-weather sports

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Angliholic  #548883  Thu, 31 Jul 08 12:50 AM
At first, the modern Olympics, like the ancient events, were centered around outdoor, warm-weather sports.
...                                                                            centered on outdoor, warm-weather sports.
...                                                                           forcused on outdoor, warm-weather sports.


Hi,
Do the last two in the above sound as good as the first and mean about the same?
By the way, is "were" in the first optional? Thanks.
  
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Mr Wordy  #549436  Fri, 01 Aug 08 12:12 AM

There's little difference for me, but I marginally prefer "focused on" or "centered around" to "centered on".

"Were" is optional in all versions.

  
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Anonymous  #556634  Tue, 19 Aug 08 08:31 PM
"Centered around" is unequivocally wrong. One cannot center around something. You can revolve around something. Otherwise, the correct term is "centered on."
  
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