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Hurricane season begins today (June 1) in the Atlantic and lasts through November. AP recently tweeted some helpful tips, and the stylebook is a good resource if you want to delve deeper. Some points to remember:
- Capitalize hurricane when it’s part of a name – e.g., Hurricane Emily.
- Hurricanes don’t have sexes, no matter what the name. They should be referred to as it, not he or she.
- Capitalize category and use a numeral when you give a hurricane’s strength – e.g., Category 5.
- Avoid bad and sexist puns when using hurricane names. AP’s hurricane entry in the stylebook is worth quoting in full: “And do not use the presence of a woman’s name as an excuse to attribute sexist images of women’s behavior to a storm. Avoid, for example, such sentences as: The fickle Hazel teased the Louisiana coast.”
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It’s also tornado season, and Lisa Glowinski blogged recently with some tornado tips. See the AP stylebook entry under weather terms for more information on tornadoes and hurricanes.
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AP tweeted the pronunciation of Ratko Mladic the other day. It’s RAHT'-koh MLAH'-dich.
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And here’s your handy style guide to some June holidays:
- Flag Day (June 14)
- Bloomsday (June 16)
- Juneteenth (June 19)
- Father’s Day (June 19)
Does anyone know without looking them up what Bloomsday and Juneteenth commemorate? Leave a comment below, and you’ll win a prize – my admiration.
From the latest AP style changes to timely copy editing reminders, check out everything you need to know to make your copy clean.
