6 things you think are AP style rules that aren’t actually AP style rules

Oh, AP style. You’re occasionally confusing but overall OK (not “okay”).

Love it or loathe it, The Associated Press Stylebook is the lingua franca of written journalism. It’s why we say adviser, not advisor; protester, not protestor; and why the Oxford comma remains persona non grata.

Many journalists are so fluent in AP style that we correct numbers in our sleep — digits over nine are safe as numerals even in dreams. And yet, after a decade and a half in various editing chairs, I’ve noticed some recurring, uh, misconceptions.

There are “rules” you think are in AP style that simply aren’t. Here are six of them as we roll into 2026.

And before the indignant replies roll in: Yes, bigger issues exist than quibbling over a sometimes arbitrary set of guidelines. But what a year (erm, decade?) it’s been for journalism. Surely we’ve earned five minutes of affectionate, old-school style-nerdery.