Exasperated for exacerbated

[W Brewer]

<<that just *exasperated* what was going on>>
<exacerbated> can be replaced by <exasperated>  because of:
(1) Formal similarity: a seeming metathesis of [winge`d R] & [bilabial
plosive] is the only phonetic difference.
(2) Semantic affinity:  they share a basic sense of aggravation.
(3) Lexical frequency. <exacerbated> (11.1M ghits) is a less common word
than <exasperated> (20.7M ghits). Children frequently exasperate their
elders, who may need a dictionary & spelling checker to use exacerbate
correctly.
     People just tend to replace the unfamiliar with the familiar to relate
a new experience with what they know.

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