CONTENTS FEATURE: Use antonyms to negate gracefully REACTIONS: Responses from our readers WELCOME: The newest EditPros client NET NOTES: Captivating web sites FEATURE: The proper way to say "not": antonyms can negate gracefully      The English language derives much of its depth and texture from the variegation and abundance of similar but distinct words that let us color our conversation and writing with precise shades and tones of meaning and implications. The language affords us choices not only among synonyms (words of similar meaning), but also among antonyms (words that have sharply opposing meanings). We continually enhance the language with new words and new applied meanings for existing terms. Yet those additions seems to be accompanied by a corresponding loss of recall and skillful use of antonyms.      Instead of thoughtfully choosing antonyms, business people and writers today are more apt to simply paste "not" into their sentences to negate words or concepts. "Not" is an adverb that can be paired with a verb to express either negation, denial, refusal or prohibition. But simply plugging in the adverb "not" may fail to adequately or accurately express intended meaning.      Consider the newspaper article sentence that said, "The signs are not very positive for the congressman." The meaning of that arid statement is hazy. Is the writer trying to indicate that support for the congressman does exist, but it's not as strong as possible—it's "positive" but not "very positive"? Is the congressman in reality encountering opposition? Or merely indifference? If not "very positive," then what precisely are the signs?      A radio network newscaster declared, "the address was found to not exist." A more lucid substitute would be: "Authorities learned that the address was nonexistent."      An anchor on another network newscast said, "Two doctors have been accused of not reporting the pregnancy of an 11-year-old girl." No. They were accused of failure to report the pregnancy; or accused of concealing the pregnancy. Even if the news writer had been unable to think of an antonym for the verb "report," looking up a key word such as "secret" or "hide" or "protect" in the index of a thesaurus would have led to numerous word choices. Many dictionaries and thesauri do include listings of antonyms.      The often-used "not to" construction is not only awkward but also potentially confusing, because it seems to beg for accompaniment by a "but instead" clause contradicting the first part of the thought. The sentence "Hector would prefer not to discuss that" suggests that the problem is not necessarily Hector's aversion to discussing the matter, but instead his preference for participating in another activity—perhaps "He would prefer not to discuss that, but rather to ride your gas-powered scooter." The real intended meaning, of course, is "He prefers to avoid discussing that matter."      The statement by a company's personnel office that "All employees were told not to use the microwave oven in the lunchroom" implies that they were told nothing about the microwave oven, but rather were given other instructions—perhaps "All employees were told not about use of the microwave oven in the lunchroom, but instead were encouraged to barbecue in the parking lot." Close examination of the original sentence reveals that it does not actually say that employees were forbidden from using the microwave oven; it says they were given instructions, but those instructions did not involve the microwave oven. The intended meaning: "Employees were notified they are prohibited from using the microwave oven."      A public service announcement awkwardly urges parents to "Talk to your kids about not smoking." A more literate pronouncement would be "advise your kids against smoking" or "teach your kids why they shouldn't smoke."      An insurance commercial implores, "You can't afford not to have this coverage." Can't afford not? Third-graders learn to express themselves more skillfully than that. An improved approach would be "You can't afford to lack this coverage." The solution simply involved replacing "have" with its antonym, "lack," eliminating the need for the clumsy "not to" expression.      A company announcing closure of a warehouse said it had "opted not to renew its lease." There's another ugly pairing—"opted not." The intended meaning: the company "declined to extend" the lease or "allowed the lease agreement to expire."      A newspaper article reported that "suppliers of a major herbicide have decided not to sell their product to members of a local collective." If the suppliers' decision did not involve selling their product, what did it involve then? Because no antonyms for the verb "sell" (buy, give, donate) convey the intended meaning, correcting the sentence involves making changes in word choice and construction. One approach: "suppliers have withdrawn their offer to sell."      People often express opposition using the contraction of "do not," as in "Thelma and Louise don't want to go to that conference in Boise." The verb "want" expresses desire or preference. Saying they "don't want" to go, however, can express not only opposition, but also indifference: The conference wasn't on their "wish list," but hey, as long as the company's paying for it, why not? Declaring that they resist or refuse to attend the conference is more explicit.      Likewise, a radio station's promotion of a "concert you won't want to miss" is a timid endorsement. It infers that you may, indeed, want to avoid some concerts, but you'll be less inclined to find this show as objectionable.      In one common phrase the use of "not" is intentional, and pretentious as well. "Differences in their brains are not unlike different computer operating systems," declared a scientific report. Not unlike? Rather than the obtuse double negative, a direct statement—"brains are similar to"—would more clearly and succinctly express the intended thought.      Deliberate use of the "not" construction is found in sneering intellectual understatements, such as one published in an art review article that stated, "Collectors would not be particularly attracted to this piece." A less patronizing writer might have stated, "this piece is unlikely to interest collectors" or "collectors probably will overlook this piece."      The word "overlook" brings to mind a couple of words that are their own antonyms. Organizations speak of creating "oversight committees" to supervise activities, but the word "oversight" has two humorously contrasting meanings: watchful care and unintentional omission. An oversight is the result of failure to take notice or ignorance of a significant event. Oversight committees, in that case, probably should be restricted to unimportant activities.      And the word "cleave," which means to adhere or be faithful, can also mean to split apart.      Despite that caution, antonyms have an important place in contemporary speech and writing. They may require careful thought to identify, but it's far better to use them than not to. Change that: Using them is better than avoiding them. Yes! In editing your documents, EditPros will suggest the most expressive words to articulate your ideas. REACTIONS: Responses from our readers      The essay in the September issue of the EditPros newsletter focusing on shorthand terms associated with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prompted about a dozen readers to respond by e-mail. Here are comments from many of them, in the alphabetical order of the names of the letter writers. "Thanks for your great editorial in this newsletter. It is nice to know there are some people left in the crazy country that can see through the hype!" Chris Hayes La Canada, Calif. "I wanted to respond to the article about disrespect shown in the terms "9/11" and "Ground Zero". Amen. Thanks for a good article, which I am sharing with my fellow tech writers/editors." Max Matthews Raleigh, N.C. "A heartfelt and totally accurate reminder of the need to be precise and respectful in our communications." Lynn Narlesky Davis, Calif. "Thank you for this article on nicknames surrounding the events of Sept. 11. I agree with you completely. On a less serious note, maybe now you can help rid the world of my pet peeve phrase, 24/7." Crystal O'Hara Woodland, Calif. "I am so glad that you wrote that piece on the September 11 tragedy. Every time I hear those two phrases, I grit my teeth and wonder what people are thinking. What's worse, never doing anything about it!! I am now on the bandwagon—you gave me the courage to go forward." Kristan Otto Sacramento "Hopefully, this isn't becoming a political mouthpiece newsletter. Otherwise if the message is writing, you do a good job." Christina Richter Granite Bay, Calif. "Your piece on the use of 'ground zero' and '9-11' was terrific. I'm going to post it at work and circulate it—if that's okay with you." Jane Sellman Baltimore, Md. "I definitely enjoyed your editorial. It was very thought-provoking. I, like a lot of other people, have not given a lot of consideration to the nicknames we constantly use. I must admit much of our speech often doesn't make sense, and I often wonder where it originated. I guess our need to shorten and abbreviate everything has happened because we think everything must be 'done yesterday.' How sad! Sometimes, on a beautiful day, I remind myself how short life can really be and wonder why I'm always in a hurry planning or organizing something. What happened to just sitting on the porch smelling the fresh-cut grass and flowers? I've strayed from the gist of your editorial, but somehow it does all seem to be tied together." Jackie Smiley Lady Lake, Fla. "Thank you so much for your thoughtful remarks in your September issue of EditPros News. Your writing on the irreverence of the use of abbreviations for this tragedy is very timely given the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. May I pass on your commentary to my friends?" Val Toppenberg West Sacramento, Calif. "I enjoyed your newsletter as always and was particularly interested in your views of the media term '9-11.' It's been a topic of conversation in the KFWB newsroom since I arrived there in early August. Basically, most people in our newsroom agree with you but we can't figure out an alternative term or phrase to denote the day and its events. We can use, 'the September terrorist attacks," and we do, but when it's necessary to make another reference just a sentence or two later and needing to avoid redundancy we get stuck with '9-11.' To further complicate the problem, it is now September again. We have to add the phrase 'last year' or say, 'the September 2001 terrorist attacks.'      You mentioned Pearl Harbor Day, D-Day, VJ-Day, etc. Well, when somebody says 'VE-Day' I have to stop and figure out what it means. It requires translation. 'Pearl Harbor Day' is easy enough to understand, of course, but nobody calls it that. We just say, 'when Pearl Harbor was attacked.' We can't do that with 9-11 (forgive me, but even in this letter I can't find a way to avoid it) because the attacks occurred in two different places, New York and Arlington, with a fourth airliner crashing in Pennsylvania.      Normally I am a stickler for keeping shorthand jingo out of news lingo. (Cute, huh?) But in this case I'm afraid I have to vote to keep '9-11.' It is an immediately recognized, concise term for all that transpired on that day and what it meant to our country. In fact, when you look at it that way it's a pretty amazing piece of shorthand. And while I really hate the Hollywood feel of the term I can't find it offensive or disrespectful in any way, hard as I try." Dave Williams KFWB radio, Los Angeles We proudly welcome the newest EditPros client Project Solutions LLC Tulsa, Okla. (918) 664-1227 Project Solutions LLC handles coordination and fulfillment of special projects, primarily editorial in nature. Formerly The Wallis Group, a full-service public relations and advertising agency, Project Solutions does not work directly with clients. Instead, the firm contracts with agencies, and performs work on individual projects. Net Notes: Captivating Internet resources Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus http://www.m-w.com/      Type an entry in the "Collegiate Thesaurus" blank and click the "Look it up" button. Many of the results display antonyms. The Merriam-Webster Online site is operated by Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, Mass Thesaurus.com http://www.thesaurus.com      Follow the link on the home page of this Web site to learn how to identify antonyms to words that you enter. This site is operated by Lexico LLC of Los Angeles. WordNet http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn1.7.1      The database on this Web site can generate antonyms of words through a two-step process. First, type your "search word" into the entry box. Depending upon the word you choose, the "results" page gives you the option of searching for antonyms. Be sure to select one of the numbered senses of the word if more than one is presented. WordNet is operated by the Cognitive Science Laboratory at Princeton University in New Jersey. YOUR TURN: Ask the "grammar coach" or subscribe      We invite you to submit your questions to the "grammar coach," and we welcome you to subscribe to this monthly newsletter—which we'll send to your e-mail address at no charge. We respond to all "grammar coach" questions personally, but delays may occur because we must place top priority on assignments from our clients. We appreciate your patience and your interest.      You also can change your e-mail subscription address. For an address change, please indicate your existing AND your new e-mail address. Thank you. 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