Grammar Moses: Your exasperation doesn't make things worse

A national newspaper that shall remain nameless carried a story last month about pet obesity.

Tim Froehling of Palatine was a bit exasperated by it.

The story quoted a veterinary research associate at an animal hospital who had noticed pets have been getting plumper.

"More than 20 disease conditions have been linked with pets being overweight," he is quoted as saying. "While some may say, 'My pet looks cute being pudgy or plump,' ultimately carrying those extra pounds contributes to exasperating these diseases."

Hmmmm.

"Fighting back against diseases may exasperate them, if they're capable of such complex emotional behavior," Tim wrote. "Otherwise, I don't see how exasperation of a condition is possible."

I'm with you, Tim.

The word the researcher - or the writer - was reaching for was "exacerbating."

To exasperate is to infuriate.

To exacerbate is to make a bad thing worse.

Seen it?

Peggy Giles of downstate Girard has a bee in her bonnet about people who don't properly conjugate "to see."

"One of my biggest grammar problems is when people use 'seen' instead of 'have seen''" she wrote. (It should be) "I see you peeking around the corner. I saw you peeking around the corner yesterday. I have seen you peeking around the corner in the past."

I, too, hear an alarming number of people say something like "I seen Billy at the store yesterday."

Check that. I see a great deal of that on Facebook, where grammar goes to die.

The beloved hyphen

I'm guilty of abusing the long dash - to make a point. And there have been times, I'm sure, when I used a hyphen that wasn't sanctioned by the gods of grammar but I did so to provide greater clarity.

If you've been reading my column for a while you know I'm all about clarity.

I wrote in May about my frustrations with the spectrum of opinions from trusted sources on whether certain words should be hyphenated.

"In roughly the same vein as your column are the words 'resign' and 're-sign,'" wrote David Harding of Warrenville.

"I read a story about a football player who had 'resigned' with his team in March. The accompanying word 'with' suggested that he had actually 're-signed.'"

This is a terrific example of how a hyphen can create an antonym of the unhyphenated version. Did the guy sign a new contract or quit?

If he had re-signed "with," you would surmise he continued with the team. If he resigned "from," you'd surmise he left.

Too cute to pass up

Mary Kolososki of Palatine said the best grammar lesson she ever received was from her then-5-year-old granddaughter Isabella.

"She asked if we could put on a show with her stuffed animals. She said she would be the trainer and I could be the 'audient.' I smiled and said, 'I think you mean audience.' She rolled her eyes and said, 'Grandma, there's only one of you!' She is now 11 and an excellent writer."

I expect an email from the precocious Isabella any day now.

Write carefully!

• Jim Baumann is vice president/managing editor of the Daily Herald. Write him at jbaumann@dailyherald.com. Put Grammar Moses in the subject line. You also can friend or follow Jim at facebook.com/baumannjim.