Posts filed under 'AP style'
June 8th, 2009
Rockford’s new school superintendent is working on who will be members of her Cabinet.
Associated Press style is to capitalize any Cabinet that’s made of people, from the presidential one on down.
This is to distinguish it from the kind of cabinet that is a piece of storage equipment. That one is lowercase. Even if you had a really large cabinet and people lived in it, it would be lowercase.
And when they left it, that wouldn’t be the same as coming out of the closet.
June 4th, 2009
The Associated Press still prefers “garnishee” over “garnish” as a verb for “to attach a debtor’s property or wages to satisfy a debt.” The implication is this is to head off confusion with the other kind of “garnish,” “to adorn or decorate.”
But “garnishee” also is the noun for “the individual whose property was attached.” I’m OK with that, because the double “e” is typical for nouns (”employee,” “lessee,” etc.), but it’s unusual for verbs.
In American English, says Bryan A. Garner in “Garner’s Modern American Usage,” “garnish” is “the usual verb form.”
I prefer “garnish,” too, and I don’t know why the AP clings to “garnishee.” But I do find it amusing that it favors the one with the unnecessary ending — a garnish, if you will.
May 5th, 2009
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” Shakespeare gives Marc Antony that memorable line in “Julius Caesar.”
There’s a lot more lending going on these days, but much of it is being called “loaning.”
Strictly speaking, “lend” is the verb and “loan” is the noun. Some authorities suggest “loan” is OK as a verb when referring to money rather than other things, as Marc Antony was.
The Associated Press Stylebook makes no such distinction, saying that “lend” is “the preferred usage” for the verb. And it’s not alone on that (that’s “alone,” not “a loan”).
However, use of “loan” as a verb is fairly common. It’s not horribly incorrect to say, “Could you loan me 10 bucks?” However, if you say “lend” instead, it shows you know the difference — and I for one will be more likely to give you a loan.
November 15th, 2008
Regular readers of Associated Press stories may have noticed this. The wire service has altered its style on first reference to U.S. presidents. It will now include the first name, so it’s President George W. Bush, not just President Bush. This change took effect Thursday morning.
The official reason was consistency with its style for other world leaders.
This change makes sense for other reasons, too
After eight years of having to distinguish between W. and his dad, it’s somewhat second nature. And it’s not just the Bushes: We’ve also had two presidents named Adams, two named Harrison, two Johnsons and two Roosevelts, as well as two separate terms of a Cleveland with one of the Harrisons in between.
Another possible factor: With Americans’ knowledge of history rapidly deteriorating, maybe the AP hopes to fill in some gaps.
It can’t hurt to try.
