A Round-Up of the Latest AP Stylebook Updates

September 3, 2024
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Keeping up with new terminology is important in our industry. We consider the Associated Press Stylebook’s new terms and the AP’s evolving approach to existing entries as more than updated writing and editing rules. The changes reflect shifting societal and cultural norms. As the chief editor of Black’s Law Dictionary — also newly updated with its 12th edition — emphasized in a podcast interview: “Lawyers need to be really sensitive semanticists.” The same applies to law firm communicators and marketers. We collected five AP Stylebook updates to put into practice.

Bulleted lists

  • Use periods at the end of each sentence in a bulleted list. Skip the periods when lists are short (e.g., apples, oranges, grapes).

Climate change, climate crisis

  • Use “climate change” when referencing long-term shifts in weather patterns and “climate crisis” when describing the current situation.
  • New climate-related entries in the AP Stylebook include “community solar,” “geothermal,” “lithium ion” and “energy transition.”

Homeless, homelessness

  • Mention only when relevant. Avoid “the homeless” and “the unhoused.” Use “unhoused” only when quoting people, if an organization uses the term or if people use it to describe themselves.

Gender, sex, and sexual orientation

  • Mention only when relevant. If important to what you’re writing, consider asking your subject which term they prefer — “openly” or “out.” Note that “out” is gaining some preference over “openly.”

X

  • For the website formerly called Twitter, use “the social platform X” on first reference. Limit use of the verb “tweet,” except in direct quotations; instead, say “posted on X.”

You’ll likely use some of these more than others, depending on your firm’s practice areas and clients. Word nerds who want more can check out a longer rundown of AP Stylebook updates or subscribe to the AP Stylebook Online for a guide that is updated throughout the year.

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