Barack Obama, otherwise known as “that one” by his bosom buddy John McCain, also made rhetorical mistakes tonight.

When describing social programs, Obama said he’d eliminate some and “make sure that those that do work work better and cheaper.” Yes, it’s colloquial, but it’s grammatically incorrect. When you’re describing how programs work, you must use adverbs — like “more effectively and less expensively” — not adjectives like “better” and “cheaper.”

Obama made a number of poor word choices, too. For example, he said, “What you’re interested in is trying to figure out how is this going to impact you.” Impact is a noun, never a verb. If you’re trying to use it as a verb, opt for influence or affect.

Obama’s favorite verb tonight was diminish. In most cases, he used it correctly. But it failed when he said, “The popular opinion of America had diminished in Pakistan.” To diminish is to reduce or lessen in importance. A reputation can deteriorate, but it cannot shrink in size.

We hope That One takes note.