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Welcome! Today is Monday, February 13, 2012
Ask the Editor provides answers, clarification and guidance on style issues that go beyond the pages of the AP Stylebook. Before posing a question to AP editor David Minthorn, search the accompanying style archives for your topic. With thousands of questions and answers on file, your topic has very likely been covered. For typical style questions and responses, visit Ask the Editor FAQ.
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Ask the Editor questions from the past week:
| Q. I assume footnote numbers go outside the final period in a sentence. Am I correct?
E.g., He was famous for saying unflattering things about his King even though he loved him.? – from New York on Sun, Feb 12, 2012 A. AP doesn't use footnotes in news copy. Stories cite sources witin the texts. Chicago Manual of Style for book publications might provide the guidance you need on placement of footnote numbers. |
| Q. Is AP's style for the White House chief of staff Jack Lew or Jacob Lew? I see the first name and nickname used interchangeably thruout stories. Has the White House issued a preference?
Thanks. – from Naples, Fla. on Sun, Feb 12, 2012 A. He's Jack Lew in the bio at this link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/staff/jack-lew |
| Q. If we do not capitalize presidential then would we capitalize pharaonic? – from Orysia, Belle River, Canada on Sat, Feb 11, 2012 A. In AP stories, Pharaonic is often capped in references to ancient Egypt, as in the Pharaonic era. It's lowercase when referring to a style of rule carried into modern times. |
| Q. "It is the court's judgement that the defendant should stand trial for murder" said judge Joseph Fortson of the second District Court
Is second done in numerals 2nd? – from Kennesaw, Ga. on Sat, Feb 11, 2012 A. "It is the court's judgment that the defendant should stand trial for murder," said Judge Joseph Fortson of the 2nd District Court. (judgment, comma after murder, Judge, 2nd.) |
| Q. Hello - When referring to group of incoming
presidents, in this case, for chapter presidents
of an association, would the correct usage be presidents-elect or president-elects? Thanks. – from Gainesville, Fla. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. The first: presidents-elect. |
| Q. In the AP entries for fractions and decimals (e.g.), it says "Spell out amounts less than 1..." and "For amounts less than 1..." I'm trying to understand why AP is using the figure (1) and not the word (one) in these cases -- to follow the "spell out numbers below 10" rule. I don't readily see a guideline in the numerals entry. Thanks. – from Omaha, Neb. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. Figures are used for most measurements, dimensions, and the like -- hence the figure 1 in this definition. Among the exceptions are fractional amounts less than 1, which are usually spelled out. See "numerals" for other examples. |
| Q. Is the comma placement after the question mark correct?
When your patient asks, %uFFFDHow do I actually deal with these eating behaviors?,%uFFFD realize that this is a highly individualized question. – from Oceanside, Calif. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. Question mark supersedes the comma: When your patient asks, "How do I actually deal with these eating behaviors?" realize that this is a highly individualized question. |
| Q. IRS for capatalization question - when writing the sentence, "Bring all your 1099 forms with you,"
would you cap the word Form or should the sentence read, "Bring all of your Form 1099's with you"? – from Irvine, Calif. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. Bring all your 1099 forms with you. Bring all parts of your Form 1099 with you. |
| Q. Since AP style is to lower case cabinet secretary titles when not directly before a person's name, why is "Secretary of State" capitalized in the Stylebook example below (the first instance)? I was going to cut and paste it for a colleague but don't want to send a mixed message.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS: In stories with U.S. datelines, do not include U.S. before the titles of Secretary of State or other government officials, except where necessary for clarity. Examples: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder. – from Portland, Ore. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. It's capped to emphasize a title usage preceding a name, as in the accompanying example. If used in another context without a name, secretary of state is lowercase: The secretary of state will attend the meeting. |
| Q. Hello,
If a company chooses to use the comma before "Inc." in its name, we ensure that it is included after as well: "Acme Example, Inc., is a sample company." When parentheses follow the name, should the comma still appear after?
"Acme Example, Inc. (Acme), is a sample company."
or
"Acme Example, Inc. (Acme) is a sample company."
Does the presence of the parenthetical change the rule to include the corresponding comma?
Thanks so much! – from Potomac, MD on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. AP doesn't set off Inc. or put the abbreviation in parentheses. |
| Q. Is it "open-head injury" and "closed-head injury" or should I remove the hyphens? – from Eagan, Minn. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. Not familiar with these terms. AP occasionally uses open head wound (no hyphen). |
| Q. We are listing documents students need to bring to a college financial aid workshop. One of the items is "Parent(s) Tax Return". How do we add a possessive to "Parent(s)" or should we just ignore the single-parent families and use "Parents' Tax Return"? – from Conway, S.C. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. It should be clear as parents tax return (descriptive formulation with the common nouns lowercase). |
| Q. when referring to townhall, is it one or two words? – from Chicago on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. It's town hall (two words). |
| Q. I need to footnote something cited in a 2009 Reuters press release. The press release title is: Clinical Diagnostic Lab Testing Market to Grow Over 90% through 2017. My question is: should the press release title be put in quotes or italicized?
Thank you. – from Collegeville, Pa. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. AP doesn't use italics or footnotes in news reports. If you're applying AP Style to this, see "composition titles" entry. |
| Q. When a sentence starts with a trademarked proper noun that starts with a lowercase letter, is that letter left in lowercase? – from NY, N.Y. on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 A. Starting a sentence or headline, initial letters of trademarks are capped. See "iPad" and "eBay" entries for those exceptions. |
| Q. Hi, I'm wondering if the words "fight off" should be hyphenated... as in: "One thing I do to fight-off a bulging waistline is read labels at the grocery store." I say no hyphen, my colleague thinks I'm wrong, we're hoping you can settle this. Thanks in advance, we appreciate it. – from New York, New York on Thu, Feb 09, 2012 A. It's fight off (no hyphen), an example in Webster's "fight" entry. |
| Q. In "rule of law," should I capitalize "rule" and "law" or leave them lowercased? I couldn't find anything about AP style regarding it, and you can find it both ways elsewhere.
Also, "biotherapeutics" would not need a hyphen, based upon the general rules of using hyphens with prefixes, right? Also, "biotherapy" is in the dictionary, so it seems I would treat those two the same way. Thanks. – from Columbia, S.C. on Thu, Feb 09, 2012 A. Lowercase rule of law. Those bio terms aren't hyphenated. |
| Q. In terms of cleaning up one's home, should the verb be de-clutter or declutter? – from Rockville, MD on Thu, Feb 09, 2012 A. It's clear as a compound without a hyphen in line with Stylebook guidance on prefixes. |
| Q. Is freewriting one or two words? – from Oklahoma City on Thu, Feb 09, 2012 A. It's two words in AP story uses. |
| Q. To abbreviate Southeast in an address, do I use periods, as in "S.E. Market St."? Or is it "SE Market St."? – from San Francisco on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. No periods in quadrant abbreviations of addresses unless customary locally. |
| Q. Do long class names take quotation marks and capitalization? For example, "The center is offering classes on 'Biking With Your Baby and Toddler' and 'Interpretations of French Architecture through the Ages.' – from San Francisco on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. Generally, the titles of courses or classes are capped but not enclosed in quotes. |
| Q. Wal-Mart or Walmart? Used to be the corporation was Wal-Mart and individual stores are Walmarts. But online entry only has Wal-Mart. – from Santa Fe, N.M. on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. AP now uses Wal-Mart for stores and corporate references. The compound spelling proved difficult to apply in news contexts. |
| Q. The entry under "departments" indicates that capitalization is retained in reference to government agencies and cabinet offices, such as Secretary of State's Office, etc. Yet an FAQ says such references should be lowercased when referring to a state-level office. This seems wildly inconsistent since City Council and Legislature are capped for non-federal government bodies. Please clarify. – from Gainesville, Ga. on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. No doubt there's leeway if you're citing the official, capitalized name of state or local government department. |
| Q. Apart from rewriting the sentence so you don't have to use the word at all, what is the past tense of "X-ray"? – from Cleveland, Tenn. on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. The past tense is x-rayed. |
| Q. Would AP capitalize "word" in "God's Word" in reference to the Bible? – from Indian Trail, N.C. on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. It's generally lowercase, God's word. |
| Q. The print version of the AP style book has a very useful chapter, "Guidelines for Interpreting Proxy Statements" in the Business Guidelines section. I can't seem to find this in the online stylebook. I've searched for proxy, proxy statements etc. Is it there somewhere or am I doing something wrong? Thanks – from crownsville, MD on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. The AP Stylebook dropped the proxy section from the 2011 edition as outdated. However, the current Stylebook does have a "proxy" entry with a brief definition of a proxy statement. |
| Q. What is the correct AP style for Valentines Day? – from Round Rock, Texas on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. The spelling is Valentine's Day. |
| Q. Would it be "nickeled-and-dimed" or
"nickel-and-dimed"? – from San Antonio on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. Deferring to Webster's, which gives both spellings. |
| Q. Farm Bureau -- up in all cases? Up only when preceded by the state or county? Is it ever OK to lower-case? Thanks! – from Greendale, Wis. on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. In AP stories, it's capped as part of the state or national name. That would hold for county branches, too. Usually it's the bureau (lowercase) on second reference. I have seen it capped as Farm Bureau in some follow-ups. |
| Q. Is it 14th annual Top 50 list or fourteenth annual Top 50 list? – from Chennai, India on Wed, Feb 08, 2012 A. Spell out first through ninth when they indicate sequence in time or location. Starting with 10th use figures: 14th annual. |
| Q. I am frequently coming across the construction "within ... after," as in "We will begin work within 30 days after the contract is awarded." My first impulse is to change it to "within 30 days of the contract award" but I get resistance because the authors are afraid that readers might think the 30 days precede the day the contract is awarded. Any ideas on how to keep this clear without resorting to "within after"? – from Tucson, Ariz.. on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. How about ... no later than 30 days after the contract is awarded. |
| Q. I would appreciate any guidance you can give on the use of the business term "spin-out," meaning a business started from work in a laboratory or similar endeavor, as opposed to one spun off from another business. Is the term acceptable? If so, how should it be written? – from SEATTLE, Wash. on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. Not familiar with that term. Spin-off company is used a lot, though. |
| Q. Which is correct: "Congratulations goes out to...." or "Congratulations go out to...."? Or would it be better to write "Congratulations to...."? Thanks! – from Richmond , Va. on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. I'd go with the third version ... Congratulations to ... |
| Q. A story refers to medical test results: a PSA test result of eight. Or should that be 8? – from Seattle , Wash. on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. Use a figure for the PSA test result. |
| Q. When using hyphenated words in a title, should the word after the hyphen be capitalized (10-year Reunion
or 10-Year Reunion, Re-election Meeting or Re-Election Meeting, etc.)? – from Parsippany, N.J. on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. The hyphenated word is lowercase. |
| Q. How do I cite a source within a quote in a press release? For example, I am quoting a doctor who says, "Sharing an infertility diagnosis with someone close to them is also difficult, with 61 percent of couples concealing their infertility diagnosis from friends and family." This last part (percentage of couples...) is taken from *Source %uFFFD %uFFFDThe Psychological Impact of Infertility: Results of A National Survey of Men and Women,%uFFFD by: A.D. Domar, K. Gordon. Fertility and Sterility, Vol 95, No 4.
(15 March 2011), pp. S17 - It appears from searching the ask the editor section that citation should appear within the story instead of below as a footnote, however not sure
if that is the same if it is a citation of a source within a quote? Please advise on how to treat this source citation. Thank you! – from Midlothian, Texas on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. AP news stories don't use footnotes. If you follow that guidance, add a sentence after the quote to the effect that XX (the doctor you're quoting) said the figure came from a study, "The Psychological Impact of Infertility: Results of A National Survey of Men and Women," published March 15, 2011, by XXX. |
| Q. Is office keeping two words or should it have a hyphen? The sentence is: You%uFFFDll learn about common office hazards, safety tips, the benefits of proper ergonomics and why good office keeping really makes a difference. – from Tampa, Fla. on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. Never heard the term. Wouldn't use it. |
| Q. Would you say "by accident" or "on accident"? I've heard both, and was just curious if one is wrong, and what the logic behind it is. – from Norwalk, Conn. on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. The expression is by accident. The other makes no sense. |
| Q. Is it the "joy of volunteering" or the "joy of volunteerism"? – from Chennai, Tamilnadu on Tue, Feb 07, 2012 A. The first seems preferable, and be sure to explain it in context. |
| Q. Is using a person's first name ever acceptable in
a newspaper headline or story even if it's an
opinion piece? TV news, Internet sources and
other print media frequently use Mitt, Newt or
Hillary and it's trickled down to some of my
supervisors and co-workers. If OK, is it OK for
just these three or can I use Barack, Moammar, Saddam, Vladimir (or perhaps just Vlad) and others? – from Midland, Texas on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 A. AP occasionally uses the first name alone in headline for eye-catching effect. But generally surname is preferable for reader recognition. |
| Q. Following up from a previous question: Deleting "respectively" is not an option in this text. Do I need the comma before "respectively"? ... with emerging regions such as Latin America and the Middle East accounting for approximately 8% and 6% of orders respectively. [end sentence] Again, I can't recast. Do I need the comma? Thank you. – from Kansas City, Mo. on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 A. Yes, set it off. |
| Q. Can you tell me if the word powertrain is one word or two? Thank you. – from Philadelphia on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 A. Deferring to Webster's, it's powertrain. |
| Q. Should a comma precede "respectively" in this example? ... with emerging regions such as Latin America and
the Middle East accounting for approximately 8% and 6% of orders respectively. [end sentence] Recasting to delete "respectively" is not an option, unfortunately. Thank you for your help. – from Kansas City, Mo. on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 A. I'd rework to avoid the clunky respectively: ... with emerging regions accounting for notable orders: Latin America about 8 percent and the Middle East 6 percent. |
| Q. Per your Ask the Editor entry, I used the term "St. Patty's Day" in a magazine ad for a St. Patrick's Day event. In response, I received an angry email from a reader saying that, as a person of Irish decent, he found the word "Paddy" to be derogatory. I can see his point, considering we are referring to a saint. What's your take on this? Should we stick to the proper name? – from Patchogue, N.Y. on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 A. Paddy is a nickname for the Irish Gaelic Padraig. It's widely used in Ireland -- e.g., Paddy's Pub in Galway, Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains. We've quoted Dubliners using that diminutive while celebrating the very green day in New York. That said, if someone finds it derogatory, better to avoid. |
| Q. I found the entry below regarding email while
searching to see how to write e-learning. Isn't
the AP style now, email (no hyphen)? Also, can you confirm how to write e-Learning and e-Delivery (this is the way my org is doing it.) Thanks.
Q. Email or e-mail? Both as a verb and a noun? What about other words with "e" as a prefix, e.g., e-learning? Thanks.
A. AP style is the hyphenated e-mail and, for consistency, e-commerce, e-books and similar uses of the e-prefix in that sense. 2007-02-13 (Source: Ask the Editor, ) – from Washington on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 A. The AP Stylebook entry changed to email in 2011. It's the lone exception for electronic terms. Others are hyphenated, including the two you list. |
| Q. I was reading an article that read, "Western Michigan University Professor of Archaeology Michael Nassaney said...," and I was wondering if professor should be capitalized in this instance. – from Stillwater, Okla. on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 A. Depends on whether it's a formal title. Preceding the name with so many terms may be challenging for readers. Better to start with the name and follow with the academic specialty and the university. |
| Q. I'm testing the new StyleGuard tool. In my
opinion, "work out" should be two words as a verb
phrase (e.g., Work out a plan to ...). The tool
is suggesting that the word be spelled as one
word: workout. Is the term intended to be spelled
as one word in all uses? Or just as a noun and adjective? The guideline doesn't specify. – from , on Mon, Feb 06, 2012 A. Sure, two words for such verb forms. The compound is a noun for physicial exercises. |
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