By: Joe Strupp The 2008 edition of the Associ-ated Press Stylebook has arrived, and for those of us who still regard it as the go-to style source, "WMD," "iPhone" and "anti-virus" are in, while "barmaid," "blue blood" and "malarkey" are out.
More than 200 new entries make their debut, including "high-definition," "text messaging," "social networking," "podcast," "Wikipedia," "anti-spyware," and "snail mail," along with one term surely familiar to newspapers these days, "outsourcing."
Among the former entries axed: "milquetoast," "Photostat," "riffraff" and WAC, "which is no longer used by the U.S. military but may describe a woman who served in what had been the Women's Army Corps," according to the AP.
Also changing is the rule for use of "African-American," which previously indicated that the "preferred term is 'black.'" Now, the arguably ponderous "African-American" entry states: "Acceptable for an American black person of African descent. 'Black' is also acceptable. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable."
In another significant, some would say overdue revision, "mentally retarded" is no longer the preferred term, replaced by "mentally disabled."
The entry for "Sept. 11," previously the preferred term in describing the 2001 attacks, now notes, "Also acceptable is 9/11."
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