Ask the Editor

Last Seven Days

Answer

Our style for that symbol is the same for headlines as it is for the story itself:

plus symbol (+) 


The symbol is acceptable when it is pronounced as part of a company, brand or event name: Disney+, Apple TV+, ESPN+, CompTia Network+. Do not use in slugs of AP stories; use plus in slugs. Use the word plus in other uses: They expect 200-plus people. He is my plus-one. Flowers plus blue skies make for a nice day. She got a B-plus on the test.

Answer

plus symbol (+) 


The symbol is acceptable when it is pronounced as part of a company, brand or event name: Disney+, Apple TV+, ESPN+, CompTia Network+. Do not use in slugs of AP stories; use plus in slugs. Use the word plus in other uses: They expect 200-plus people. He is my plus-one. Flowers plus blue skies make for a nice day. She got a B-plus on the test.

Answer

This is the guidance and I don't have anything beyond that:


music 


Capitalize, but do not use quotation marks, on descriptive titles for orchestral works: Bach's Suite No. 1 for Orchestra; Beethoven's Serenade for Flute, Violin and Viola. If the instrumentation is not part of the title but is added for explanatory purposes, the names of the instruments are lowercased: Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major (the common title) for violin and viola. If in doubt, lowercase the names of the instruments.
Use quotation marks for nonmusical terms in a title: Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony. If the work has a special full title, all of it is quoted: "Symphonie Fantastique," "Rhapsody in Blue."
In subsequent references, lowercase symphony, concerto, etc
.

Answer

Yes, use the hyphens in that case.

Answer

We'd use the period in that case.

Answer

Now you have the Stylebook team stumped. This is too much like math for the likes of us.

Saying 10 times more likely is pretty clear.

I can't figure out what 10 times as likely means. Does it mean the same, or something different? I have no idea, and a quick Google search was no help.

That tells me this much: If I can't figure out what 10 times as likely means, there's a good chance that at least some of your readers will be unsure as well. So I'd go with 10 times more likely -- if in fact the math on that one is correct. 


Question from Washington, District of Columbia, on March 14, 2024

Hello! Would it be "most talked-about city" or "most talked about city"? 

Thanks!

Answer

most talked-about city

Answer

Lowercase unless it's part of a formal name.

tribe Refers to a sovereign political entity, communities sharing a common ancestry, culture or language, and a social group of linked families who may be part of an ethnic group. Capitalize the word tribe when part of a formal name of sovereign political entities, or communities sharing a common ancestry, culture or language. Identify tribes by the political identity specified by the tribe, nation or community: the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation. The term ethnic group is preferred when referring to ethnicity or ethnic violence.

Answer

We'd use lowercase, with quotation marks, and define the term for general audiences. But if your readers are in the financial industry, there may well be no need for you to use the quotation marks or define the term. Your readers may be quite  familiar with it.

Either way, we wouldn't capitalize it.

And thanks for your kind words!

Answer

By their first and last name. 

Answer

Yes, the Planning Commission is OK on second reference. But just the commission,  not the Commission.

Answer

Either can be correct. Since our general style is to abbreviate as St., we go with St. Patrick's Day. As you note, both Webster's New World College Dictionary and Merriam-Webster spell it out.

Question from San Francisco, California, on March 13, 2024

Is game-changer hyphenated or not? 

Answer

The preference is no hyphen. But hyphenated is fine, if you prefer it.

Answer

We'd recommend paraphrasing rather than using the direct quotation. I realize that's not really possible in a Q&A. The issue isn't as much style as it is clarity for the reader. And clarity in this situation is hard to accomplish when using the direct quotation.

I think I'd do it this way, with the parenthetical (thinking) and the quote marks: 

I got a call today from someone. And this person said, "I’ve been depressed for a long time and I’ve never been able to articulate what that's like to my wife. And we watched your show and now I feel like she gets it." And I was (thinking) like, "that was the intent of the show "— to have these conversations.


Answer

They're lowercase when they follow a name.

Answer

Lowercase in that use.

Answer

The first option.

Answer

Thanks, and I agree. I have to say, I doubt that we'd use the ampersand in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, what I think vs. what the style team, the business editors, and others may think aren't necessarily the same. I'll add it to our long list of points to consider ...

Answer

I agree with you.

Answer

You sign on.

Answer

We'd use vis-a-vis, since we don't use accent marks other than in proper names. You can choose to do otherwise, of course. There's no reason to use italics or capital letters with it.

Do you really want or need it in the title of an article? 

Question from Beijing, on March 12, 2024

Should it be "IMAX" or "Imax"?
In the entry on
Company Names, it says:
Do not use all-capital-letter names unless the letters are individually pronounced: BMW. Others should be uppercase and lowercase. Ikea, not IKEA; USA Today, not USA TODAY.
In AP stories I've seen "Imax Corporation" and "IMAX CEO" - so my initial hypothesis that it's Imax for the company and IMAX for the format (like JPEG), doesn't seem quite right.
Thanks

Answer

That question is among many related questions that we need to address, but haven't done so yet. What you see in AP stories is most likely the result of AP staffers who don't know the style and doing what they think is right. It's on the list to discuss. But not for awhile.

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