Plural of noun and concept takes singular verb? [duplicate]

Solution 1:

You're reading too much into a violation of the standard convention in formal writing that a conjunction means two things and thus takes a plural verb. If we follow your line of reasoning that a semantic consideration -- the second subject specifies the first -- then the following would be correct:

Language and the ways we use it has always fascinated me.

The attraction of the multiword, singular second subject to the following verb has influenced what we think about number. The length of the second subject also reminds us of a singular subject and an aside, which by convention keeps the verb singular. Thus

The bicycle, particularly considering its evolution, is interesting.