Daily affirmations of a word mercenary
Internet vs. internet
19Aug2004 Filed under: Geek OutDerek’s post makes me want to cry.
Why? Because in my work for The Seattle Times, we have to follow AP style. And AP style STILL DICTATES Internet, Web, and e-mail. I physically wince each time I have to write out the phrase “Web site” when we all know it’s “website.”
And you don’t know how hard I have to fight to keep them from saying things like “Go online to seattletimes.com.” How ELSE are you going to get there? “Go on a bus to seattletimes.com”? No, the online part is inherent in the fact that it’s a fucking website! All you need to do is tell people to go there. If they can’t figure out that it’s online (”Excuse me, sir, could you direct me to, let’s see here, seattletimes.com?”), then they probably won’t be able to use the website.
Fucking AP style. Catch up, already, you print losers. (And I say this as someone who’s worked in the print industry for many years.)
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2 Responses to “Internet vs. internet”
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Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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Derek Powazek
August 19th, 2004 at 9:18 am
Amen, sister! It only took Wired 7 years to catch up. I’m sure AP is right around the corner…. (Yes, I’m being sarcastic.)
Jodi
August 19th, 2004 at 11:14 am
Wow, how very timely. I just started a new job as a reporter for a po-dunk little newspaper in my hometown, and AP style is so confusing and ridiculous!
It’s very hard to adjust, as I spent four years as an English Literature major.
You know what gets me? Writing the old postal abbreviations for states, rather than using the “new” ones (which have been in use for, what, ten years?) Writing Tenn. instead of TN wastes space.