Sign o' the Times
How the Associated Press describes 12 'oclock.
What is noon or midnight?
What are numerals and words?
After a person and their title have been introduced to a story, AP says to refer to them this way on all subsequent references.
What is last name only?
Ages, no matter how young, are written like this.
What are numerals?
A headline that doesn't include a verb is called this.
What is a label?
Unlike other numbers, which are spelled out one through nine, time in AP Style is always this.
What is a numeral?
AP would refer to CAPS as this on first reference, but would NOT then put CAPS in parentheses afterward.
What is spell it out/Counseling and Psychological Services?
AP allows only this type of person to have their name prefaced with the title "Dr."
What is an MD/medical doctor?
Measurements are written with these.
What are numerals?
Headlines generally use this instead of the word "and."
What is a comma?
Use the day OR the date, not both, and this is how you decide which.
What is, what is more/less than a week away?
Circle, Drive, Place and other street names are never abbreviated, but these three are - IF they are written with a specific address.
What are street, avenue and boulevard?
Use this many commas and do this to a person's formal title when it comes before the person's name.
What is none and capitalize?
When a number starts a sentence, it is written like this ______ unless it is this _____
What is a word, unless it is a year?
Titles of books, movies, songs, poems, comics, albums and other media are written using these.
What are quotation marks?
These five months are never abbreviated, whether they have a specific date or not.
What are March, April, May, June and July?
The area of the United States that includes cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego is written this way.
What is Southern California?
When someone's academic degrees are important to the story, AP recommends doing this to include them.
What is spelling them out in a phrase?
Money is written with numerals, but AP says to use this ahead of the word for dollars and this after the word for cents.
What is a dollar sign or the word "cents"?
Oxford commas are not used in AP except for this reason.
What is, sentence meaning changes without it?
If it's 12 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2024, it is this day of the week.
What is Thursday?
If you're writing about a city in another state, AP says you do this with the name of the state.
What is spell it out?
When introducing a person who holds the title of "reverend," this prefacing article must be included.
What is "the"? (The Rev. Martin Luther King)
When shortening a decade - say, the 1970s - the apostrophe goes here.
What is before the 7?
If two vehicles collide, AP describes the result this way, as opposed to "an accident."
What is a crash?