A style guide comparing Associated Press style and Chicago style for editors, writers, teachers, students, word nerds, and anyone else who gives a dollar sign, ampersand, exclamation point, and pound sign about style.

Welcome to AP vs. Chicago: A Style Guide for Editors, Writers, and Word Nerds

by Karen Yin

I started AP vs. Chicago to keep track of style and usage according to the popular style guides The Associated Press Stylebook and The Chicago Manual of Style.

A copy editor with 20-plus years of experience, I make it my job to keep up with changing styles and the evolution of language (or devolution, as the case may be). Even if my client doesn’t claim allegiance to any style, I will go along with the style they’ve arbitrarily created and shake out the mess of commas, hyphens, capitals, and italics to create a piece that sings with power and clarity. And for websites, advertisements, letters, and résumés, this is what makes what you’re selling shine.

Funny Posts

Slashes: Uses and Restrictions

Misunderstood. Abused. Ignored.

No, not me. Well, maybe that, too, but I’m referring to the beleaguered slash . . .

Numbers: Spell Out or Use Numerals? (Number Style 101)

Numbers take up their own planet in the style universe, so let’s explore it one mountain at a time.

« Older Entries

Next Entries »

Fun-Free Posts

Crafting Citations through Principles, Not Rules: MLA Style, Eighth Edition

As a student of the humanities, I worked with Modern Language Association (MLA) style long before I became aware of the other styles. So it’s big news to me and generations of scholars that the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook, published in April, breaks from a rule-based format to one that focuses on the principles for crafting useful citations.

Staying Ahead of Style Guides

Were you delighted by the ruling on Internet by The Associated Press Stylebook? Effective June 1, 2016, Internet became internet, no longer capitalized. Though many reacted with trepidation, others have desired this change for the last decade or so.