Differences Between 'The Yahoo!

Style Guide'
and 'The Associated Press Stylebook'
http://www.copyediting.com/yahoo-vs-ap-better-my-sticky-notes
The following table lists the major differences between "The Yahoo! Style Guide" and "The Associated
Press Stylebook." No entries were made for matters on which the two manuals agree. Sources for AP
style were the online version of "The Associated Press Stylebook," the AP website's Ask the Editor
archives, and "Webster's New World College Dictionary."

Spelling authority

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

"The American Heritage

Dictionary of the English
Language"

"Webster's New World College Dictionary"

Spelling and the Treatment of Words

Abbreviations

If the shortened form

may be unfamiliar to
your readers, spell it out
the first time it's used or
include the abbreviation
or acronym in
parentheses following
the spelled-out form.

Generally, do not follow the spelled-out name

with an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses.
And do not use the abbreviation or acronym if its
meaning would not be clear on second reference
without this arrangement.

Generally, no periods in
abbreviations: PC, PhD.
Some exceptions: A.D.,
B.C., U.S., U.K.,
L.A. (the city), a.m., p.m.

No periods in abbreviations of three or more

letters, and in common two-letter initialisms: AA,
AP, CD, DA, ER, EU, FM, GI, IM, IQ, IT, LA. But
use periods in most two-letter abbreviations and
in abbreviations with lowercase letters: B.A.,
Ph.D., f.o.b.Abbreviations in headlines take no
periods: US, NY, etc.

In general, do not
abbreviate state names,
even when they follow
the name of a city.

Abbreviate the state name when it follows a city

name: Berkeley, Calif. Use traditional
abbreviations, not two-letter postal codes (except
with full addresses).

When space is tight,

"Wash. DC" is an
acceptable abbreviation
for "Washington, D.C."

Never abbreviate "Washington" when referring to

the District of Columbia.

Avoid abbreviating days

of the week. If
abbreviations are
unavoidable, use the
first three letters, with a
period:Sun., Mon.,
Tue., etc. Exception: In
tables or where space is

Do not abbreviate days of the week except in

tables. Use the first three letters, without a
period: Sun, Mon, Tue, etc.

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

very tight, periods may

be omitted, and
abbreviations may be
trimmed: M, Tu, W, Th,
F, Sa, Su.

Titles of works

Avoid abbreviating
months: November 3,
2010. If abbreviations
are unavoidable, use the
following: Jan., Feb.,
Aug., Sept., Oct.,
Nov., andDec.

Abbreviate the following months when they

precede a date: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct.,
Nov., andDec. Examples: November 2010; Nov.
3, 2010.

Use italics or, preferably,

quotation marks for the
titles of reference
material. Do not use
italics or quotation marks
for the titles of games.

Do not put quotation marks around catalogs of

reference material. Use quotation marks for the
titles of games.

In title case, capitalize

the conjunctions "if,"
"how," and "why."

In title case, lowercase "if," "how," and "why"

unless they are the first or last words of a title.

In title case, capitalize

the second part of a
hyphenated compound if
it is a word that would be
capitalized in title case
on its own: Re-Election
Results, Real-World
Experience.

In title case, lowercase the second part of a

hyphenated compound:Re-election Results,
Real-world Experience.

(1) For singular common

nouns, add an
apostrophe and an "s" to
the end of the word: the
campus's science
building. (2) For singular
proper names that end
in "s," use an
apostrophe and an
"s": Agnes's dress.
However, if the name
ends with an "eez"
sound, use an
apostrophe alone to
form the
possessive: Ramses'
wife. (3) A word ending
with an "s" sound and
followed by a word

(1) For singular common nouns, add an

apostrophe and an "s" to the end of the word
except when the noun ends in an "s" and the
following word begins with an "s":the campus'
science building. (2) For singular proper names
that end in "s," use just the apostrophe:Agnes'
dress. Exception: St. James's. (3) When a word
ends with an "s" sound and is followed by a word
beginning with an "s," use an apostrophe only: for
appearance' sake. (4) Do not use an apostrophe
when a word is used in a descriptive sense: a
teachers union.

Punctuation
Apostrophe(possessi
ves)

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

beginning with an "s" is

treated like other regular
nouns: for appearance's
sake. (4) Use an
apostrophe in genitives
to indicate the
relationship of one noun
to another: a teachers'
union.
Comma

Use the serial comma.

Do not use the serial comma in a simple series.

Use the serial comma in a complex series.

En dash

If desired, use for a

range of numbers and
for a compound
adjective that includes a
proper noun of more
than one word: 810
people, preCivil War.

Use a hyphen in such cases.

Em dash

A space before and after

an em dash is optional
but should be used
consistently.

Insert a space before and after an em dash,

represented by an underscore, except at the
beginning of a paragraph.

Hyphen

(1) Follow the dictionary

for two-thought
compounds: seriocomic,
socioeconomic. (2) Use
no hyphen in
compounds denoting
dual heritage:Chinese
American. (3) For
prefixes and suffixes,
decide whether to apply
blanket rules or to apply
your rules only if a word
is not listed in your
dictionary.

(1) Use a hyphen to join the elements of twothought compounds: serio-comic, socioeconomic. (2) Use a hyphen to indicate dual
heritage: Chinese-American. (3) For prefixes and
suffixes, see separate listings. Follow general
rules, then "Webster's New World Dictionary."

Generally, we
recommend closing up
prefixes and suffixes
with root words. For
suffixes, use a hyphen
when the consonant is
doubled and when a
compound would be
hard to read:shell-like,
daffodil-like,
hippopotamus-like
Slash

If it's necessary to use

numerals for a full date,

The general rules are: For prefixes, do not

hyphenate when the root word starts with a
consonant. (A notable exception is "anti-," which
is generally hyphenated.) For suffixes, generally
close up. If a word combination isn't listed in the
stylebook or in "Webster's New World," use two
words for the verb form; hyphenate any noun or
adjective forms. Use a hyphen to avoid tripled
consonants: shell-like, daffodillike,
hippopotamuslike (see entry on "-like")

Do not use slashes to indicate dates.

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

separate the parts with

slashes rather than
hyphens or other marks.

Exception: 9/11.

Gendered terms

Replace gender-specific
words such as "actress,"
"chairman,"
"spokesman," and
"manmade."

Gender-specific terms are often preferred.

Examples: anchormanand anchorwoman, not anc
hor orco-anchor; chairman andchairwoman rather
thanchairperson, chair, or co-chair. It's OK to use
"actor" for a woman if she wishes. Preferred
nongendered terms include "firefighter" and
"letter carrier." "Man" and "mankind" are
acceptable when referring to both men and
women.

"That" versus "which"

Use "that" to introduce

an restrictive
clause: She told her
mother that the top floor
of the house that burned
down was their
neighbors' flat.

When "that" introduces another clause in the

same sentence, "which" may be used to
introduce an essential clause when referring to
an inanimate object: She told her mother that the
top floor of the house which burned down was
their neighbors' flat.

Boldface and italics

Code boldface and

italics with HTML tags.

Neither boldface nor italic type can be transmitted

over AP newswires.

Accented and
otherspecial
characters

Code diacritical marks,

symbols, and other
special characters in
HTML.

Nontransmitting symbols, including accented

letters, plus the tilde (~), asterisk (*), at sign (@),
brackets ([ and ]), bullet (), equal sign (=) ,
percent sign (%), and pound or number sign (#)
should not be used.

Headings

Headings can be in title

case, sentence case, or
all uppercase.

Headlines are in sentence case.

Keep headings 65
characters or shorter for
search engine
optimization.

All stories get two headlines. The one for

websites should be 60 characters or shorter; the
longer one should be 94 characters or shorter.

Use bulleted or
numbered lists. If one or
more elements is a
complete sentence,
capitalize the first word
of every list element and
use ending punctuation
after each element. Do
not use ending
punctuation after

Use dashes (underscores) to set off list items.

Capitalize the first word following the dash. End
all list items with periods.

Usage

Formatting

Lists

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

sentence fragments.
URLs

Embed links in the story.

When including a
domain-name URL in
copy, do not include
"http://" at the start of
URLs that include "www"
and the domain name
alone. For deeper-level
pages, include the full
URL, even "http://." If it's
necessary to break a
URL, do so after most
punctuation marks
except a hyphen, but
break it before a period,
slash, or other mark that
could be mistaken for
the end of the URL.

If an address breaks, split it directly after a slash

or dot that is part of the address, without an
inserted hyphen. Use "http://" or other protocol at
the start of the Web address. Some symbols,
such as the at sign, the equal sign, the
underscore, and the tilde, should be spelled out
with an explanatory note. A URL-abbreviation
service such as bit.ly can also be used.

Numbers

3D

3-D

African American, Asian

American, and similar
compounds (n., adj.)
Two words, no hyphen.

African-American, Asian-American, and similar

compounds (n., adj.) Hyphenate.

antivirus, antiwar

anti-virus, anti-war (see AP's "anti-" entry for

other examples)

BA (academic degree)

B.A.

biannual(ly), bimonthly,
biweekly Do not use.

OK to use "biannual" (meaning twice a year, as

synonym for "semiannual"); "biennial" (every two
years); "bimonthly" (every other month);
"biweekly" (every other week).

bil OK as abbreviation
for "billion" when space
is tight. Example: $45
bil.

B OK in headlines. Example:$45B.

C Acceptable
abbreviation for
"degrees Celsius."
Example: 40C.

Use the form "40 degrees Celsius" or "40 C" (no

period after the "C").

C.E. (common era) and

B.C.E. (before the
common era) Include

Use "A.D." and "B.C." only.

Word List

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

the periods, but don't put

a space between the
letters. Place
abbreviation after the
year.
cell phone

cellphone

chair, chairperson

chairman, chairwoman

checkbox

check box

clickthrough (n., adj.),

click through (v.)

click-throughs (n.)

congressman,
congresswoman Do
not use. See word list for
details.

congressman, congresswoman

data Treat as a
singular noun.

data Treat as a plural noun in most cases.

decision maker

decision-maker

the 11th hour

the eleventh hour

F Acceptable
abbreviation for
"degrees Fahrenheit."
Example:40F.

Use the form "40 degrees Fahrenheit" or "40 F"

(no period after the "F").

farmers' market

farmers market

Google Do not use as

a verb. Use "search,"
"search for," or "search
on" instead.

Google, Googling, Googled

govt. Acceptable
abbreviation for
"government" when
space is tight.

Never abbreviate "government" except as a last

resort in headlines, where it can be "govt"

grader No hyphen in
combining form: a fifth
grader.

grader Hyphenate in combining form: a fifthgrader.

Ground Zero (9/11 site),

ground zero

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

ground zero
H

homepage

home page

hotspot One word for

a Wi-Fi access point.

hot spot

ID (n., adj., v.) Other

acceptable forms: IDs
(n. pl.); ID's, ID'ed, ID'ing
(v.).

ID, ID'd, ID'ing

IM (n., adj., v.) Other

acceptable forms: IMs
(n. pl.); IM's, IM'ed,
IM'ing (v.).

IM, IMed, IMing

K OK as abbreviation
for "thousand" if space is
at a premium.

OK to use "K" for modem speeds (56K), with no

space, but not to mean 1,000 or $1,000.

L.A. Periods in the

abbreviation for the city.

LA Abbreviation is acceptable on second

reference.

M Do not use as
abbreviation for "million"
or "thousand."

M OK as abbreviation for "million" in a

headline.

media Generally,
treat as a singular noun.

media For mass communications, consider

this a plural word.

mike Shortened form

of "microphone."

mic (n.)

mil OK as
abbreviation for "million"
when space is tight.

M OK in headlines. Example:$45M

OK (n., adj., v.) Other

acceptable forms: OKs
(n. pl.); OK's, OK'ed,
OK'ing (v.).

OK, OKs, OK'd, OK'ing

onscreen

on-screen

percent OK to use
"percent" or the percent
sign (%) in text, as long
as use is consistent.

percent Use "percent" in running text. Use

"pct." in headlines if space is tight.

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

PhD (sing.), PhD's (pl.)

Ph.D. (sing.), Ph.D.s (pl.)

Pres. Acceptable
abbreviation for
"President" used as a
title before a name.

"President" is not abbreviated.

Q&A

Q-and-A

racked (in "pain-racked"

and similar expressions)

wracked (in "pain-wracked" and similar

expressions); but: She racked her brain.

resum

resume

ringtone

ring tone

screensaver

screen saver

screenshot

screen shot

semiautomatic

semi-automatic

slideshow

slide show

smartphone

smart phone

social networking (n.),

social-networking (adj.)

social networking

standalone (adj.)

stand-alone (adj.)

sync, synching

sync, syncing

touchscreen (n., adj.)

touch screen (n.), touch-screen (adj.)

trainwreck

train wreck

upper-left corner, upperright corner

upper left corner, upper right corner

U.S. (n., adj.)

U.S. (n., adj.), US (no periods in headlines)

vice president, vicepresidential

vice president, vice presidential

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

voicemail

voice mail

webpage

Web page

western (for film, book,

or country music)

Western (for film or book), western (for country

music)

word-processing (adj.)

word processing (adj.)

In headlines, follow the

general rule to spell out
numbers below 10.
Exception: If space is
tight or you want to call
attention to a figure,
digits can be used for
cardinal and ordinal
numbers below 10.

Use numerals in headlines.

If a passage (a single
sentence or paragraph)
contains two or more
numbers and one is 10
or higher, use numerals
for all numbers.
Example:The delegation
included 3 women and
11 men.

Apply the usual rule with exceptions, spell out

"one" through "nine" and use numerals for 10 and
higher regardless of inconsistent treatments
within a sentence. Example: The delegation
included three women and 11 men.

If space is an issue, use

the following
abbreviations:
"mil" (million), "bil"
(billion), and "K"
(thousand).

Use "M" and "B" in headlines:$1M, $2B.

Use numerals with units

in technical contexts.
Examples: Please enter
a 5-digit ZIP code. Enter
a 6-character password.

Apply the usual AP rule. Examples: Please enter

a five-digit ZIP code. Enter a six-character
password.

Fractions

For "one and a

half": 1 or 1.5(preferre
d) or 1-1/2. For "one and
a third": 1-1/3.

For "one and a half": 1 . Insert a full space

between whole number and fraction for 1/8, 1/4,
3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, and 7/8, which are set as built
fractions. For other fractions, insert a hyphen to
separate numerator from denominator: 1 1-3.

Centuries

Use numerals for the

Spell out ordinals under 10: the second century.

Numbers
The basics

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

ordinal: the 2nd century.

Distance

Use numerals when

referring to distance.
Example: She walked 3
miles.

X - Spell out numbers below 10 for distance (but

not dimensions). Example: She walked three
miles.

Dimensions

For English units of

measurement (inches,
feet, yards, etc.) use
either the symbol, if one
exists (double straight
quotation mark for
inches, straight single
straight quotation mark
for feet), the full word, or
the abbreviation with a
period ("in.," "ft.," "yd.,"
etc.).

Spell out the unit of measurement.

Examples: The beach is 2 miles long. The room
was 9 feet by 6 feet. In very technical contexts,
use an apostrophe to indicate feet and double
quotation marks to indicate inches, with no
space:96. Other examples: He is the 7-foot-3inch center. Order 4-by-6-inch prints.

You can abbreviate

a unit of measure
without a period in
tight spaces just
be consistent. When
describing two or
more dimensions of
an object, repeat the
symbol for each
figure. Separate the
dimensions with
either an "x" or the
word "by. " (Use
only an "x" with
symbols.) If using an
"x," a space before
and after is optional
as long as you're
consistent.
Examples: He is the
7-foot-3-inch center.
He is the 7 ft. 3 in.
center. He is the 7'3"
center. Order 4"x6"
or 8"x10" prints.
Telephone numbers

To list international
phone numbers, use a
plus sign and the
country code, then the
area or city code and the
local phone number.

Begin international numbers with 011, then use

the country code, the city code, and the phone
number: 011-44-20-7535-1515.Extensions are
separated by a comma: XXX-XXX-XXXX, ext. 29.

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK

Examples:+1-415-555XXXX (a San Francisco

number), +81-3-XXXXXXXX (a Tokyo
number). Extension
numbers are not
separated by a
comma: XXX-XXXXXXX ext. 29.
Percentages

You can use either the

word "percent" or the
percent sign (%) in text
as long as you're
consistent. Note that if a
passage (a single
sentence or paragraph)
contains two or more
percentages, the percent
sign makes it easier for
readers to compare the
numbers.
Example:Motor vehicles
account for about 43%
of U.S. oil consumption.
Electric energy
production accounts for
23%, and lawn mowers
account for less than
1%.

Always use "percent." In headlines, "pct." is

acceptable. Example: Motor vehicles account for
about 43 percent of U.S. oil consumption. Electric
energy production accounts for 23 percent, and
lawn mowers account for less than 1 percent.

Ranges of numbers

Ranges of numbers
(such as times, dates,
game scores, and
pages) can be separated
by an en dash, a
hyphen, or the word to.
Example:Join us at the
Open House July 67.
Hours: 10 a.m.5 p.m.

Use hyphens. Example: Join us at the Open

House July 6-7. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Money and currency

If it's necessary to
specify the type of dollar,
use the format US$000,
CAN$000,
AUS$000, or NZ$000(wi
thout a space). Note:
This is the only instance
where "United States"is
abbreviated without
periods. For euros,
insert the code for the
symbol, without a space
(for example, 150), or
write "EUR000."

For currencies other than the euro, spell out the

name of the currency following the amount, then
provide in parentheses the equivalent in U.S.
dollars: Japan approved a 1.8 trillion yen ($18
billion) extra budget to partially finance an
economic stimulus package.When dealing with a
non-U.S. dollar currency, use the following
abbreviations before the dollar amount on second
and subsequent references:
AU$ (Australian), CA$ (Canadian), SG$
(Singapore), NZ$ (New Zealand), HK$ (Hong
Kong), NT$ (New Taiwan), ZW$ (Zimbabwe)
Example: Treasurer Wayne Swan approved a 16
billion Australian dollar ($10.74 billion) deal.
Swan said AU$8 billion would be reserved for

YAHOO! STYLE GUIDE

AP STYLEBOOK
capital expenditure.

Ages

When referring to the

age of a person or
animal, use numerals.
When referring to the
age of an object rather
than a person or an
animal, spell out the
number if it's nine or
less; use numerals for
10 or more.
Examples:The child is 4
years old. The company
is four years old.

Always use numerals for ages. Examples: The

child is 4 years old. The company is 4 years old.

Time

Shortened versions of
time zone abbreviations
are preferred: "PT"
rather than "PST" or
"PDT," for example.

Indicate daylight saving or standard time in zone

abbreviations.