Throwing gas on the fire ...

I know it's easy to get caught up in the concerns about gasoline prices and the occasional frenzied language. But we really should step back and be a bit judicious.

The headline from a recent paper:

Gas prices skrocket 19 cents in 3 weeks

The story goes on to say "Gas prices soared an average 19 cents in the past three weeks ..." with the average price for unleaded increasing to $2.32 per gallon during that time. (Note: This story is a couple of weeks old; I just rediscovered it under the pile I call a desk.)

That would have made the original price $2.13. Now, 19 cents on $2.13 is 9 percent. A substantial increase, to be sure, but skyrocketing and soaring?

I think we're best to save those terms for at least double-digit increases. After all, we don't say gas prices "crashed" or even "dived" when they go down by about the same amount. What do you think?