Here is an entry in the 2008 Associated Press Stylebook:
outsourcing A business practice used by companies to reduce costs by transferring work previously performed in-house to outside suppliers.
I am reading a book (review to come when I finish) about words that have come into English from other languages. I am struck by how the author shows the connection between what was going on in the world and what words entered the language. The Associated Press Stylebook shows the changes in the language, too.
The 1996 version of the stylebook appears to be the first one that had entries for Internet and World Wide Web; the 2000 version had a separate section, printed on gray paper, that defined and set style for various terms associated with the Internet and computers: baud, e-mail and emoticon, for example. In the 2008 version, as it has been for several years, Internet and computer terms are not listed separately.
The 2008 version has entries on social networking, podcast and wiki, among others. The 1977 version had Viet Cong, Solid South and Common Market. It has gizmo, an entry no longer in the stylebook, presumably because it's in dictionaries.
Before 2000, the AP used courtesy titles for women, but not men, in news stories. The 1977 version did allow Ms. As I recall, that was the first mention of Ms. in the stylebook. I don't have any older versions than 1977. (I had a stylebook for my first year in the business, 1976, but I must have left it behind when I left my first newspaper, the Hickory Daily Record, in 1979.)
Here is one difference worth noting from the 1977 edition: kids. In a separate entry in 1977, we were told, "Use children unless you are talking about goats, or the use of kids as an informal synonym for children is appropriate in the context." In this year's edition, as it has been, we find no separate entry for kids, but under the children entry, we find "Avoid kids as an a universal synonym, unless the tone of the story dictates less formal usage." I would say that rule is universally flouted.
Comments
dertghj kas kasadet
Mon, 11/16/2009 - 20:30 — digitrdertghj kas kasadet sancısına ne iyi gelirhadi garierotik film izle - fersbuk - aşk falı - dertyli - cinsel pozisyonlar - henbi sıcak sohbet - gerdsacvbnm
günaydın mesajları demi
- - - ferdsazx isyan sözleri - gertyu -escort bayanlar hertfders - bedava film izle - gertyuliseli kızlar -fersd aşk şiirleri - merty çet -certylş şifalı bitkiler ve faydaları - gbnmöç. dul bayanlarla sohbet gtredsa - islami çet treds-playboy güzelleri bgtyuıop - çet hyuopğ
çetleşme jklşi
çet sohbet - hjklşhikayeler - htres çet sohbet asd
müzik dinle fgtre -sohbet - gbnmöçtürkü dinle jmöç
şarkı dinle ujklş
film izle uıkl - cinsel pozisyonlar grtyu
escort bayanlar -frty
rted- sohbet - gerkapak laflar - ert
sohbet peki
has been captured
Fri, 10/10/2008 - 03:18 — Orienceanet (not verified)Hello.
:) reflects the couple's low-key approach to their royal connections.
Bye.
Word usage peeve
Wed, 08/06/2008 - 12:33 — bellaparolaWhen did "shutter" become a direct replacement for "close?" I think it's trite but can stand it when it's used literally, as I saw today in an Olympics story about factories closing during the Bejing Olympics. But when it's used figuratively, as I also saw today in a story about the FBI deciding whether they have the evidence to "shutter" their case against Dr. Bruce Ivins, I cannot stand it. The constant overuse of words like that is a blazing signpost to bad writing and/or editing.
Incidentally, I remain curious as to why no one has picked up on Ivins' connection to UNC, which I noticed in his hometown paper and posted about elsewhere the day his death hit the news.
Word usage
Wed, 08/06/2008 - 15:30 — Pam_Nelson (author)I agree. That is an odd use of "shutter."
Pam Nelson
Triangle Grammar Guide
Copy-editing excoriation
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 18:20 — wfaulkThere is an amusing volley between a writer for The (UK) Guardian and the paper's copy editors (apparently known as sub-editors in the UK). The language is rather off-color, but it's worth a read, especially for the outrage solely at the loss of an indefinite article. Not that I don't agree with him.
Rant
Reply
That's one angry writer
Mon, 08/04/2008 - 13:44 — Pam_Nelson (author)I am glad I am not one of the "sub-editors" to whom that rant was addressed. Gee whiz.
Pam Nelson
Triangle Grammar Guide
teen-ager
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 13:14 — timlav (not verified)I had an editor who instructed all reporters to flout the Stylebook's take on the word teenager. Until about 2003, I think, it insisted the word be hyphenated as in teen-ager. He said the hyphen was superfluous in all contexts, and I happily agreed and complied.
And I would say avoid "an"
Sat, 07/26/2008 - 11:34 — Anonymous (not verified)And I would say avoid "an" when the word following begins with a vowel that exhibits a consonantal sound in pronunciation. One of those pedantic rules like, do not split infinitives.
The "an" typo corrected
Sat, 07/26/2008 - 16:06 — Pam_Nelson (author)Thanks for the note.
Pam Nelson
Triangle Grammar Guide