Hi Paula!

Looking for guidance specifically on "joint session of Congress." should "joint session" in this instance be capitalized or lowercase? thank you!

Is it acceptable to use Pkwy. instead of Parkway without numbers, in a second mention, or first mention, but the mention is a tab or heading? Ex: Grand Parkway in the first mention, but Grand Pkwy. in the second mention or first mention but it's a heading or tab.

Is it ever acceptable to use Tlwy. instead of Tollway in a second mention, or in a heading? Ex. Sam Houston Tlwy.

Is there a rule/preference within AP about using commas or em dashes to set off a parenthetical element within a sentence?

Hi Paula,
What is the correct format to display in a Date field of a software app when a user chooses a specific date from a date picker? Would it be Jan. 2, 2024 or 01/02/2024?

I don't usually submit multiple questions in one week, but I am rather irked. Why is it that when I put the word "lifespan" in the search box, I am greeted with the response, "Your subscription does not include access to the dictionary," leading me to believe that "lifespan" is not listed under the L's in the style book. However, when I go to the L's, lo and behold, there is the entry for it. All this time, I have not used my subscription to AP to find out how to "spell" words; I have used Merriam-Webster's. I have turned to AP when I have what I consider to be more of a style/usage question. This is why my co-workers and I often are at odds about how a word is spelled. Can you rationalize why, when a word can be found in AP, a search just does not take me to the entry, rather than telling me I don't have access to the dictionary? To quote Ricky Ricardo, "You have some 'splainin' to do."

I was wondering, if U.S. Air Force is used multiple times in an article should the U.S. be continuously used before Air Force or is it acceptable to say U.S. Air Force on the first mention and just say Air Force every instance afterward? 

Hello! Would you write this as:

"...a record 20 million-plus pounds of fish..."
"...a record of more than 20 million pounds of fish..."
"...a record of 20-plus million pounds of fish..."
"...a record of 20+ million pounds of fish..."

Thank you!

When referring to a Potential Tropical Cyclone, such as the one designated by the National Hurricane Center off the coast of South Carolina this week, do we use the numeric number (like we would for a hurricane category) or do we spell it out? In this case, it would be Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight or Potential Tropical Cyclone 8? And would the rules be different for a story body vs headline?

Is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on second use, "NHTSA," or "the NHTSA"? I've seen different federal agency abbreviations treated with and without the article, even in the stylebook, and don't know how to determine which to use in each case. Thank you.

When writing a press release about engineers who have several certifications, shall the acronyms of the certifications be included?  I have a colleague whose title is followed by PE, CFM, ENV SP. Shall it be used on the title only or in the body of the email? 

Hello,
An arts group in our city uses the name DSGN CLLCTV (all caps and eliminating all the vowels of Design Collective). I've lowercased to Dsgn Cllctv, which almost seems worse. In the interest of the reader, I'm tempted to just write as Design Collective. Thoughts?
– Nikki in Cincinnati 

How do you correct refer to the awards/places? Thank you.

Second Place consists of $5,000 awarded as a check made out to the winner and Third Place consists of $2,500 awarded as a check made out to the winner.

Would you capitalize the categories in a pageant? Example: The Little Miss XYZ Pageant is Oct. 4. Children may be entered in the Wee Miss, Little Miss, Young Miss and Preteen Miss categories. My sense is to lowercase them, but I wanted you all to weigh in. Thank you!

Do i capitalize the word journalist?

One of my sports reporters had a question about whether or not it was okay to abbreviate player positions (in general, but specifically in football)? e.g., WR for wide receiver, QB for quarterback.
I was looking around but couldn't find anything about this. 

What is the correct dateline for Gaza City?
Thanks.

I saw a couple of questions recently about "shelter in place." Does AP even use it? After a fire in the Port of Vancouver (Canada) several years ago, during which there was a shelter in place order for an adjacent residential neighbourhood, city officials said a large number of people did not know that the term "shelter in place" even meant. It doesn't sound like it was a formal study, but ... See: https://vancouversun.com/news/metro/vancouver-port-fire-taught-city-valuable-lessons

What is the correct capitalization for Shelter-in-Place?

Does it matter if it is being used as a verb, adjective or noun?

I saw that there is AP guidance whether or not to use a hyphen when using the phrase 'shelter in place' depending on the part of speech (verb, adjective or noun).

Thanks. 

People with diabetes are diabetic. Are people with prediabetes pre-diabetic or prediabetic?

Hi AP! Would it be "midprice" or "mid-price"? I thought the former based on the new hyphen rules, but I want to check. Thank you so much!

Hi there,

To supensively hyphenate or not to suspensively hyphenate when using a slash:
"maritime-/shipping-related commercial agreements"
or
"maritime/shipping-related commercial agreements"

Thanks everso...

Does AP have a preference on whether to use "more likely" or "likelier" in a sentence? "I am more likely/likelier to walk to school than ride a bus."

Are hyphens needed in the below bullet format?

· Immediately shelter-in-place. If you are in direct contact with hazardous materials, relocate to a safe area.

 

In a bullet format, which is correct:

Shelter-in-Place or Shelter-in-place?

Example: · Shelter-In-Place until the “All Clear” announcement is given