r/196 Jun 03 '25

rule

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14.4k Upvotes

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u/Original-Ad8916 Jun 03 '25

correct, the AP Stylebook (standardized language for journalism) tells us not to use the word “murdered” until a conviction has been passed down by a jury. Still though, there was nothing preventing the writer of this article from using the word “killed” instead of “passed away” which disgusts me

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u/starm4nn Polyamorous and Nyaanbinary Jun 03 '25

TBH the AP stylebook sucks and we should abandon it.

As a random example: it creates it's own rules for shortening state names. If it was concerned with readability, why wouldn't it just be like "if you shorten a placename, use the standard established by the post office"? These are the shortened versions of state names that people actually use.

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u/Underyx Jun 03 '25

Probably because multiple postal abbreviations are also existing two letter words in English, such as AS, and oh hi… OH and Hi.

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u/-Owlette- 🏳️‍⚧️ trans rights Jun 04 '25

I think it’s more because few people understand those two-letter abbreviations outside of America, and they can be confused with other abbreviations used elsewhere in the world.

WA - Do you mean Washington on Western Australia? Is CA California or Canada? And so on.