Wednesday, June 27, 2012

AP Style's No. 2 rule

Laura Moyer, one of my former copy-editing colleagues at The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg keeps a blog similar to Mr. Rewrite, called The Red Pen, of some of the funny and interesting things she comes across.

Naturally, I was thrilled to share this one with her when I spotted it last January. The difference between "poo-poo" and "pooh-pooh" is not something a lot of people know. As Laura explains, the latter means "to minimize or treat disdainfully; make light of; belittle."

Unfortunately, I learned my lesson the hard way by letting the wrong one make it in a food section headline (about a dish that already seemed a bit unsavory to begin with). At least I am not the only one to confuse them.



Ben Sellers
North Stafford High School
Stafford, Va.
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2 comments:

  1. dowen19June 28, 2012 at 3:40 AM

    Thanks, Ben. A few years ago the book "Eats Shoots and Leaves" was popular. The writer Lynne Truss discusses proper punctuation and illustrates how meaning can change when it is used incorrectly. (Incidentally, she says to add the comma before "and.")
    Soon after I read it, I was at Barnes and Noble where I found a parody entitled "Eats, Shits, and Leaves." It was hilarious.

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  2. UnknownJune 28, 2012 at 9:46 AM

    Nice catch, Ben! By the way... love the headline. So clever!

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