Associated Press style: Time for a pop quiz!

If you’re going to interact with the news media, an important part of public relations, it is helpful to learn how journalists do their jobs.

The Associated Press Stylebook, the English style and usage guide for journalism and news writing, is an essential part of their work.

I began a 30-year love affair with the AP Stylebook when we were introduced while I was a journalism student at college (and before I met my wife :)). Our relationship blossomed during my career as a reporter, editor and communications director.

There is a lot to love about the guide, more than 600 pages of basic rules for grammar, punctuation, numbers and much more. It is updated annually, with more than 300 new or revised entries in the most recent edition.

Rather than explore entries page by page (and risk having readers doze off), I thought a quiz might be a way for those who are unfamiliar with the guide to get acquainted.

Unlike in college, there will be no failing grades.

These items, created by The AP, are related to technology. The answers are at the end.

1. The company is debating whether to use an ________ approach to gathering data.

A.      opt in

B.      opt-in

2. I asked Siri for directions. ________  provided them.

A.      It

B.      She

3. I find that ________ are useful while working at home with the rest of the family in the same room.

A.      ear buds

B.      earbuds

4. Download the gift card to your ________.

A.      mobile wallet

B.      e-wallet

5. She decided to store more photos in the ________.

A.      cloud

B.      Cloud

ANSWERS:

1.       opt-in

A hyphen is used because of the use as an adjective.

2.       It

Do not refer to Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, or Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant, with feminine pronouns.

3.       earbuds

One word is used for earbuds, earphones, headphones and headsets.

4.       mobile wallet

The terms digital wallet or mobile wallet refer to a phone app used to store credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards, tickets and other transactional items. Depending on the audience, the terminology may require explanation on first use. Avoid e-wallet.

5.       cloud

Use lowercase in references to cloud computing -- the use of remote servers to store data and provide related computing services to large numbers of users.