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CONTENTS FEATURE: Look over these frequently misunderstood words GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: Look over these frequently misunderstood words      Audience members are still milling about the theater lobby as you and your companion take your seats for the holiday concert. As people stream down the aisles, you thumb through the printed program describing the concert performance you're about to hear. The program promises "Ellingtonian combinations (clarinet, flute, sax) over a diaphanous bed of strings." Then you notice a passage describing how the tenor "weaves a lush, breathy solo over mostly brass cushioning until a long orchestral interlude featuring woodwinds and strings rises to a crescendo." Oops.      If you're an editor, you're temped to whip out a pen, cross out "crescendo" and scribble "climax" in its place. There. That's better.      You see, a crescendo is not a musical peak, as is commonly believed; rather, it's a technical term for the process of increasing volume or intensity of a musical passage leading to a peak. The Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary defines "crescendo" as "a directive to a performer to smoothly increase the volume of a particular phrase or passage. This can be designated with the word 'crescendo' at the beginning of the passage or with the 'crescendo' symbol consisting of two horizontal lines that start together at a point at the left and spread apart to the left. There is typically a dynamic mark at either end of the symbol indicating the desired volume before and after the crescendo."      So a musician doesn't "rise to a crescendo." The crescendo IS the rise. That's just one of many terms that often are used erroneously. We've identified two dozen others for you here. affinity: a relationship characterized by mutual interest, or kinship. It can exist between two people or two substances, but someone cannot have an affinity to something. Wrong: Sheryl has an affinity to eggnog at this time of year. Correct: Poets and musicians have an affinity for each other. aggravate: worsen or increase in severity; not a synonym for "irritate" or "annoy." Wrong: Danny's insistence on wearing orange suspenders aggravated Sheila. Correct: Danny's insistence on wearing orange suspenders irritated Sheila (and aggravated her contempt for him). alleviate: means to make something (such as suffering) more bearable, to reduce, or to partially correct; it is not equivalent to the verbs "remedy" or "rectify." blatant: brazenly objectionable, outrageous, crass or offensively conspicuous; don't use this adjective if you just mean "obvious." Wrong: Angela was a blatant outsider, but she persisted. Correct: Angela was an obvious outsider, but she persisted. caveat: indicates a warning or caution; not a synonym for the more neutral "exception," "condition" or "clarification." Wrong: Calvin accepted the job with the caveat that he can leave early on Tuesdays. Correct: Calvin accepted the job on the condition that he can leave early on Tuesdays. complicit: association or involvement in a wrongful or illegal act; unless you're referring to wrongdoing or criminal behavior, use "participant," "contributor" or some other neutral term instead. Wrong: Commissioner Bernardi is complicit in the misunderstanding. Correct: Commissioner Bernardi contributed to the misunderstanding. decimate: destroy a percentage (literally, one in 10) of a group of people or objects; not a synonym for total destruction or annihilation. The term is derived from the ancient Roman punishment of executing one of every 10 soldiers in a mutinous squadron. disconnect: a verb; the noun form is "disconnection." Wrong: The senator's speech revealed a disconnect with his constituents. Correct: The senator's speech revealed a disconnection with his constituents. effete: exhausted, unproductive or depleted of energy; does not mean "effeminate." fulsome: offensively excessive or insincerely flattering; avoid it as a synonym for "generous," "abundant" or "full." Fulsome praise is not complimentary. gender: should be used only to identify the grammatical classification of a word; the proper term in reference to males and females of a species is "sex." incredible: used properly, this adjective refers to something that is too extraordinary and improbable to be possible; through misuse, it is used as a replacement for "exceptional" or "extraordinary." infamous: known for corrupt, disreputable or evil behavior (related to infamy); not a synonym for "famous," "prominent" or "renowned." iterate: to utter or do again or repeatedly; therefore, the word "reiterate" is redundant (comparable to saying "re-repeat'). nonplussed: confused, bewildered or perplexed — unable to make a decision or act as a result of being taken by surprise; it does not mean "calm" or "unperturbed." notorious: known for a bad quality or deed; notoriety is not admirable, and is not synonymous with fame, repute or renown. penultimate: next to last; not synonymous with "ultimate," "last" or "most." peruse: thoroughly examine or read, with attention to detail; it's much more than a cursory glance, as mistaken usage often suggests. plethora: undesirable overabundance, in reference to the medical condition plethora, which is a lethal overabundance of blood; it is not synonymous with mere excess. precocious: adjective used to describe a child who has developed abilities or intellect earlier than expected; does not mean smug, smart-alecky or pretentious. unbelievable: means "preposterous," "too improbable for belief" or "of such a superlative degree as to be hard to believe"; misused colloquially as a synonym for "splendid," "excellent" or "astounding." unique: means sole, singular, unequaled, distinctly characteristic, one of a kind; it is an absolute rather than a comparative term. Wrong: That is one of the most unique golf courses I've ever seen. Correct: That is a unique golf course (or if you do want to group it among others: that is one of the most unusual golf courses I have ever seen). vacillate: waver, oscillate or flip-flop, as in changing opinion; it is not synonymous with "delay" or "avoid." verbiage: bloated, wordy prose; this insulting term is not equivalent to "wording."      So now when you encounter these terms, you're prepared to rise to the occasion. Or rise and shine. Just don't rise to a crescendo. GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions 1. Martin A. wrote:      "If a person who has no physical or mental disabilities says, 'I sympathize with the needs of people with physical and mental disabilities,' shouldn't that be 'empathize' rather than 'sympathize'?" The grammar coach replies:      Martin, the verbs "sympathize" and "empathize" are similar in meaning, but, as you observe, they are distinct from one another.      Webster's New World College Dictionary (the primary source for the Associated Press Stylebook) defines the verb "sympathize" as: "to share or understand the feelings of another; to feel or express sympathy, especially in pity or compassion."      The noun "sympathy," in turn means "sameness of feeling; affinity between persons, or of one person for another."      Merriam-Webster Online has a nearly identical definition, and shows this usage example: have sympathy for the poor.      Webster's New World College Dictionary says the verb "empathize" means "to undergo or feel empathy (with another or others)."      That sends you scurrying to the definition for the noun "empathy," which means: "the projection of one's own personality into the personality of another in order to understand the person better."      Merriam-Webster Online adds that the word "empathy" means "the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner."      You can feel sympathy for someone without physically or vicariously undergoing what he or she is experiencing. If you observe a disabled person who is having difficulty passing his wheelchair through a doorway, you can sympathize. If you have not experienced sitting in a wheelchair and trying that maneuver yourself, however, you could not truly empathize with him. 2. Barbara W. wrote:      "I will be hosting a wine-and-cheese fund raiser for a nonprofit foundation. To attract people to this event, two elected officials have consented to attend. This is my question. The two elected are husband and wife. The husband is a state senator (Willoughby) and the wife is an assemblywoman (Willoughby). [Names are changed here.] How do I address them on the invitation? I am thinking it should be: The Honorable State Senator and Assemblywoman Willoughby Is this correct, or are there other ways for them to be addressed in the same invitation?" The grammar coach replies:      You likely approached us in response to an article we prepared for the April 2005 edition of the EditPros newsletter. The article was an introductory overview of forms of address with which meeting hosts or writers might need to be familiar. That article contained only general information because our expertise is in writing and editing, rather than etiquette.      Our approach would be to list their full names and respective titles in the address, thusly: State Senator Anthony Willoughby Assemblywoman Carla Willoughby 1234 Main Street, etc. As far as order, we suggest listing them alphabetically — Anthony, followed by Carla.)      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500      Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros' services? If you do, EditPros may reward you with a "finder's fee" of up to $500.      EditPros LLC, established in 1993, performs writing, editing, proofreading and publication management services for newsletters, brochures, Web sites, annual reports, research studies, business proposals, and other informational and marketing materials. Our office is in Davis, Calif., between Sacramento and San Francisco; however, our clients include educational institutions, private corporations, health-care organizations, trade associations, scientific research institutions, Web site developers and government agencies from throughout the United States. We have worked with some of them for more than 10 years.      If you recommend our services to a friend or business colleague, and that introduction leads to an assignment for EditPros, we will award you a "finder's fee" equaling 10 percent of the amount we earn on the first assignment for the new client, up to a maximum finder's fee of $500. Naturally, the finder's fee is applicable only to client organizations for which we have not worked previously.      This offer will remain in effect until further notice. 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. OUR PRIVACY POLICY for e-mail newsletter subscribers:      We do not use any commercial e-mail lists or automated mass-mailing programs, and we do not allow access to the list by anyone else for any reason. 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