Digging into AP style

Ooh! I can create my own custom stylebook!

When I’ve achieved my goal for the day of applying for a job, and if nothing else has taken up the rest of my time, I go back to APStylebook online and continue reading through it.

Today was one such day.

If you’re not familiar with AP Stylebook, it’s a guide from the Associated Press for news reporters and editors to use as a guide. It includes information pertinent to news coverage, such as this entry:

Laborers' International Union of North America  The shortened form Laborers' union is acceptable in all references. Headquarters is in Washington.

This style guide, along with any local or company style guide, will help writers and editors be consistent in the content they provide to readers. It's good to review it so you're familiar with what's there. 

Today, I actually had to copy two entries to compare them side by side. I kept going between them in the guide, and I couldn’t figure out what I was missing in the reference to Northern Ireland.

Great Britain 

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It consists of England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland.

Britain is acceptable in all references.

See United Kingdom.

United Kingdom 

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It consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain (or Britain) consists of England, Scotland and Wales.

Ireland is independent of the United Kingdom.

The abbreviation U.K. is acceptable as a noun or adjective. Use UK (no periods) in headlines.

See datelines and Ireland.

Aha, there it is. Northern Ireland is part of United Kingdom, but not Great Britain.  Ireland stands on its own.

I probably won’t remember this. That’s why it’s good to have the Stylebook handy. You learn to look it up, even if you’re sure you know the answer. Because sometimes, you misremember. Or you were thinking of another rule. Or AP changes the style. Yes, they do that, sometimes to great chagrin of those of us who like our words a particular way. (Over and more than used to mean different things, but now AP says over is acceptable in place of more than.)

I learned a few other things today. Take this, for instance. I couldn’t tell you they were spelled differently, although I could tell you they had different meanings.

indiscreet, indiscrete  Indiscreet means lacking prudence. Its noun form is indiscretion. Indiscrete means not separated into distinct parts. Its noun form is indiscreteness.

This is a handy way to remember when to use which word. AP Style is always good for that.

in, into  In indicates location: He was in the room. Into indicates motion: She walked into the room.

This one makes me want to rewrite the sentence to avoid using “suffered” altogether. That’s probably what an AP editor would suggest, as well.

injuries  They are suffered, not sustained or received.

This one I know. I see it wrong often. People want to put an e in it.

judgment 

This is one I’d spell wrong. I would have used an e in both instances.

loath  (adj.) loathe (v.) Note the difference. She is loath to leave. He loathes bureaucracy.

Ah, good old AP Style. Still teaching me things.