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Well known but not accurate
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Writing about abortion is a good reminder of why language matters. In fact, the terms “pro-choice” and “pro-life” are so well known that they scarcely need explanation. But the reason you know the terms so well is precisely the point: They are the preferred terms of advocates, who choose their words carefully to frame the issue in a way that advances their arguments. With the 2024 election on the horizon, we’re devoting some issues of this newsletter to writing about election-related topics. It’s all part of our efforts to help newsrooms prepare for this unprecedented election season. We told you a few weeks ago how we’re expanding our style guide to include research-backed advice on everything from writing about polls to responding to conspiracy theories. You can access it all by signing up for Stylebot or by applying for free access through the Knight Election Hub. You can also stay tuned in this newsletter for advice on writing about issues that will be top of mind this election season. We asked you a few weeks ago which topic you wanted to learn more about first, and most of you who weighed in chose abortion. So that’s what we’re tackling this week. And it turns out it’s much more than just a campaign policy position or talking point this year. At least eight states will have abortion-related ballot measures in November. Even though “pro-choice” and “pro-life” are highly recognizable, they’re not the go-to terms in news stories because they’re inherently political and aren’t particularly accurate. Instead, use pro-abortion rights or antiabortion. Another key thing to remember is to default to the word “people” instead of “women” when writing about both abortion and pregnancy. Some people who get pregnant and seek abortions are transgender or nonbinary, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now defaults to gender-neutral language for pregnancy. That doesn’t mean you can never use “pregnant women,” though. Want to be prepared for other potential election-writing pitfalls? Take our quiz to test your knowledge. ❤ Team Stylebot
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Hone your writing skills and never use "hone in" again. Get writing tips, have fun with words and learn something new in a one-minute read each week by signing up for Stylebot’s newsletter.
One fun thing about writing is that it's both rule-based and flexible. So sometimes, there are no wrong answers. Such is the case with last week's quiz, when we asked you about the plural of octopus. Your choices were octopi (the plural that assumes a Latin origin of the word), octopodes (the proper plural for a word of Greek origin) and octopuses (the English way to pluralize it). Most of you picked "octopi," and exactly zero people chose "octopodes": No one got it wrong, and even if someone...
Today is the longest day of the year, and we can't write much more about it without revealing the answer to last week's quiz, so let's get right to it. The quiz was part vocabulary, part capitalization. We asked you to fill in the blank in this sentence: "They’re planning a party on the _______ to mark the longest day of the year." First, you had to recognize that the event marking the start of both summer and winter is a solstice, not an equinox, which marks the start of spring and fall....
Happy Friday...the 13th. Most of you got the right answer on last week's quiz. Just as you spell out one through nine and use numerals for 10 and higher, you do the same for ordinals. So this month we have Friday the 13th, and next month we'll have July Fourth. You got a peek at our Google Docs extension last week, and this week we're excited to share another great review: "Style Guide Checker is a great product that provides a second set of eyes to catch things that often go overlooked. Not...