In other Holy Scripture , according to AP rule , it ’s no longer wrong to say , “ over 500 editor in chief fainted at the news show . ” If you ca n’t think how anyone could detect that phrasing objectionable , you are not alone . “ Over ” has been used to intend “ more than ” for hundreds of years . But the insistence that “ over ” was only to be used for spatial and not numerical kinship had been a feature of American paper newspaper column standards since the nineteenth century , when William Cullen Bryant , editor program of theNew York Evening Post , compile hisIndex Expurgatorius , a precursor to the New style guide .
TheIndex Expurgatoriuswas basically a inclination of word of honor that got on Bryant ’s nervousness . He reject of the too casual “ bogus ” and “ humbug , ” but also the too cherished “ hall ” and “ debut . ” Some of his directives overstep into in - house trend guide at other publication and became oecumenical newsroom habits , enshrining what was , in many slip , one man ’s view . Many of Bryant ’s guidelines have long since fallen away , as the over / more than distinction now has . Here are 19 rules from theIndex Expurgatoriusthat no one would take a ruby-red pen to today :
1.Don’t use “ cadence ” for “ defeat ”
2.Don’t use “ call aid ” for “ lineal attention ”
3.Don’t enjoyment “ conclusion ” for “ airless ” or “ end ”
4.Don’t utilisation “ decade ” for “ ten years ”
5.Don’t habit “ donate ” at all
6.Don’t use “ collide ” at all ( it ’s now satisfactory to use " collided , " but only ifbothobjects are in gesture )
7.Don’t use “ fall ” for “ autumn ”
8.Don’t use “ graduates ” for “ is graduate ”
9.Don’t use “ scarce ” for “ barely ”
10.Don’t manipulation “ subject ” for “ interrogation ” or “ subject ”
11.Don’t exercise “ leniency ” for “ lenity ”
12.Don’t use “ poster ” for “ observe ”
13.Don’t usage “ pants ” for “ pantaloon ”
14.Don’t use “ prior to ” for “ before ”
15.Don’t use “ progress ” for “ advance ”
16.Don’t use “ reliable ” for “ trustworthy ”
17.Don’t exercise “ retire ” as an combat-ready verb
18.Don’t use “ sensation ” for “ noteworthy outcome ”
19.Don’t use “ taboo ” at all
