An interview request from People probably sounds relaxing to the Obamas, who have been scrutinized by many other publications. Still, they must always watch their words.

Michelle tripped on a preposition when telling People about Barack’s domestic duties. “It’s less the household stuff because the household works; it’s more being there for them, which he has done an outstanding job at.”

Oy. The problem is not that Michelle ended her sentence with a preposition. That happens, and life goes on, despite the exaggerated wincing of sticklers. It’s the fact that there should not be a preposition at all. Michelle is trying to say, “Barack does a good job being there for the girls.”

Likewise, we shouldn’t say, “You’re doing a good job of keeping the children quiet.” It’s simply, “You’re doing a good job keeping the children quiet.” Somehow, somewhere along the line, someone needlessly inserted the preposition “of” into a perfectly fine sentence, and the bad habit stuck.

As for our buddy Barry, he talked sports. “Malia loves soccer, but she’s still so tall and gangly compared to some of these little kids who are zipping around her, although she’s getting better.”

First, brownie points for using “who,” rather than “that” when referring to Malia’s teammates; they may seem like rug rats and they may appear untamed, but they are named and human. Whos, not thats.

The linguistic snag for our presidential hopeful comes in the comparison between his daughter and her teammates. (See, parents tread dangerous ground when they make such comparisons.)

Compare with is used for differences between like things — such as two 10-year-olds chasing a soccer ball.

Compare to is used to liken different types of things for effect. Malia’s soccer compared to a Jackson Pollock painting. It’s also used to compare two similar things of different quality. Malia’s soccer skills compared to David Beckham’s.

window.google.repIm={c:function(a,b,c){(new Image).src=”/gen_204?atyp=i&ct=rep&cd=”+a+”&ei=”+window.google.kEI;document.getElementById(b).style.display=”";document.getElementById(c).style.display=”none”}}; Barack also told People about his wife, saying, “We both know how to avoid making the other person feel aggravated.”

Here’s the deal on this irksome verb. Aggravate does mean to anger, it also means to make worse, to intensify. And that’s the more common, and proper, use of the verb (especially for published prose). When you’re using it to mean anger or irritation, you’re conveying a specific connotation that may not reflect your intention. To aggravate means to rouse to displeasure, or to produce inflammation in.

Irritate would’ve been a better word choice for the presidential hopeful. To irritate is to provoke impatience or induce irritability. It’s the stuff of dirty dishes and darks mixed with lights.

Thankfully, I doubt Barack’s diction irritates Michelle very often, but if they were already on the rocks, it could aggravate the marriage.