3 ms·

Is "A.I." NYT house style? Looks rather jarring.

palmotea 1y ago
> Is "A.I." NYT house style? Looks rather jarring. I think their style is to use periods for acronyms, which I believe is traditional. A quick scan of their recent headlines turns up "U.S", "A.I.", "A.T.M.", "ICE", "L.P.G.A.", "REI", "U.K." I don't know what the reasoning behind the use of "ICE" and "REI" is, could be a mistake or a judgement that those words are tend to not be understood as acronyms, or something else.
- 0xffff2 1y ago
  IIRC they used to always style "NASA" as "N.A.S.A." even though the agency itself never uses periods and is of course always pronounced as a word rather than initials. (This particular example stuck in my mind just because I work there). Hopefully "ICE" and "REI" reflect a change in that style to omit periods when referring to organizations that omit the periods in their own style guides.
  - rekenaut 1y ago
    I don’t think this has been true for the vast majority of NASA’s existence. [This 1966 NYT article about Gemini](https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/20/archives/gemini-8-mishap-traced-by-nasa-to-short-circuit-defective-thruster.html https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/20/archives/gemini-8-mishap-...), [this 1986 article about Challenger](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/22/us/nasa-had-solution-to-key-flaw-in-rocket-when-shuttle-exploded.html https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/22/us/nasa-had-solution-to-k...), and [this 2010 article about Constellation](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/science/space/27nasa.html https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/science/space/27nasa.html) all omit periods. Even if NYT did stylize it as “N.A.S.A.” in its earliest articles, this would not diverge from common agency practice early on. For instance, in [this official reel about the dedication of Marshall Space Flight Center](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fasslw4MvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fasslw4MvE), it is pronounced spelled-out as four letters.
- lucaslazarus 1y ago
  Looks to me like initialisms get periods unless they are acronyms or trademarks. So "ICE" is fine because it is read as "ice" and not I.C.E. (eye-see-ee). REI is not an initialism though, but presumably they have kept it as-is because it's their trademark/"doing business as" style.
  - hopelite 1y ago
    That is correct and also how everyone else should be using the English language. The “REI” initialism, is the official d.b.a. for the Recreational Equipment, Inc. company.
  - lucaslazarus 1y ago
    Erratum: I meant to say that REI is an initialism but not an acronym
badc0ffee 1y ago
Artificialïntelligence
- lelandfe 1y ago
  This is the NYT, not the New Yorker

> Is "A.I." NYT house style? Looks rather jarring. I think their style is to use periods for acronyms, which I believe is traditional. A quick scan of their recent headlines turns up "U.S", "A.I.", "A.T.M.", "ICE", "L.P.G.A.", "REI", "U.K." I don't know what the reasoning behind the use of "ICE" and "REI" is, could be a mistake or a judgement that those words are tend to not be understood as acronyms, or something else.

0xffff2 1y ago
IIRC they used to always style "NASA" as "N.A.S.A." even though the agency itself never uses periods and is of course always pronounced as a word rather than initials. (This particular example stuck in my mind just because I work there). Hopefully "ICE" and "REI" reflect a change in that style to omit periods when referring to organizations that omit the periods in their own style guides.
- rekenaut 1y ago
  I don’t think this has been true for the vast majority of NASA’s existence. [This 1966 NYT article about Gemini](https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/20/archives/gemini-8-mishap-traced-by-nasa-to-short-circuit-defective-thruster.html https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/20/archives/gemini-8-mishap-...), [this 1986 article about Challenger](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/22/us/nasa-had-solution-to-key-flaw-in-rocket-when-shuttle-exploded.html https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/22/us/nasa-had-solution-to-k...), and [this 2010 article about Constellation](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/science/space/27nasa.html https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/science/space/27nasa.html) all omit periods. Even if NYT did stylize it as “N.A.S.A.” in its earliest articles, this would not diverge from common agency practice early on. For instance, in [this official reel about the dedication of Marshall Space Flight Center](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fasslw4MvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fasslw4MvE), it is pronounced spelled-out as four letters.
lucaslazarus 1y ago
Looks to me like initialisms get periods unless they are acronyms or trademarks. So "ICE" is fine because it is read as "ice" and not I.C.E. (eye-see-ee). REI is not an initialism though, but presumably they have kept it as-is because it's their trademark/"doing business as" style.
- hopelite 1y ago
  That is correct and also how everyone else should be using the English language. The “REI” initialism, is the official d.b.a. for the Recreational Equipment, Inc. company.
- lucaslazarus 1y ago
  Erratum: I meant to say that REI is an initialism but not an acronym

badc0ffee 1y ago

Artificialïntelligence

lelandfe 1y ago
This is the NYT, not the New Yorker