Sen. Obama, don’t compare your kids to their teammates

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.

Barack 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, a healthy reminder that parents tread dangerous ground in making 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.

Barack also told People about his wife, saying, “We both know how to avoid making the other person feel aggravated.”

While 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.

To aggravate means to rouse to displeasure or to produce inflammation in. Irritate would’ve been a better word choice. To irritate is to provoke impatience or induce irritability. It’s the stuff of dirty dishes and darks mixed with lights.

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

Quick hits

• John McCain’s attempt to discredit Obama’s military knowledge was discredited by his sentence structure. He referenced Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, who recently expressed doubt in Obama’s withdrawal plan. “I hope [Obama] will pay attention to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, particularly someone who has no military experience whatsoever,” McCain said. The problem? The clause “particularly someone who has no military experience whatsoever” applies to the closest subject: the joint chiefs of staff. In essence, McCain is telling us to disregard the man who knocked his political opponent.
• Bill Gates called the U.S. effort to curb smoking a “very, very worthwhile” cause. However, a cause is either worthwhile or not. There are not degrees of worth. (Nor are there degrees of being unique. You either have peers or you do not.)
• Paris Hilton said she’s “excited for life,” which suggests she is excited for the general promise of life, as a separate entity, as opposed to being “excited about life” or “excited by life,” which indicates she sees promise in her own life.