"Centered on" or "centered around"

I have often heard presenters talking about something centered around another thing, but it seems a bit illogical and hence improper to talk like this. Am I right about this?

Solution 1:

Quoting the Wiktionary usage notes for center:

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary observes that center around is objected to by some people on the grounds that it is illogical, but states that it is an idiom, and thus that such objections are irrelevant. It offers revolve around as an alternative to center around for those who would avoid the idiom.

Here is Merriam-Webster's original wording:

Usage Discussion of center

The intransitive verb center is most commonly used with the prepositions in, on, at, and around. At appears to be favored in mathematical contexts; the others are found in a broad range of contexts. Center around, a standard idiom, has often been objected to as illogical. The logic on which the objections are based is irrelevant, since center around is an idiom and idioms have their own logic. Center on is currently more common in edited prose, and revolve around and similar verbs are available if you want to avoid center around.

Solution 2:

The phrase "X is centered around Y" makes sense if you consider Y to be a smaller, central object and X to be a set of related, but distinct, objects whose collective center coincides with Y. In other words, individual members of the set X are not centered on Y, but the collection of all members of X are.

Some examples:

"The planets of our solar system are centered around the sun."

"My arguments are centered around the hypothesis that every dog has his day."