Question on style; I can't find it in the AP Sports Guide

Why's it got to be racial on here?

 

Don't agree. It usage, it's pronounced "oh."

 

It's conversational. It's how people would expect to read it because they're intuned to say "Oh-for-12." Plus, it's an "oh-fer" not a "zero-fer."

 

I'm much more definite about the last two being wrong than I am about "a" vs. "an."

"RBI-single" ... nope. Favorite pet peeve of a copy editor, right up there with "second-straight victory."

 

Too much hyphenation is a bane of our biz.

My understanding, finally in my late 40s, that there are few absolutes about hyphenation, and that less is best, has made editing life much easier on that front.

 

I agree that's how we pronounce it, but that doesn't make it right.
A lot of people will say "could care less," when it's "couldn't care less." Or they say "try and" instead of "try to." Or "supposeably." Or any number of other things.
I'm not saying I'm necessarily right. I'm just saying I don't think you can look at something written and say, "Well, this is how we would say it, so let's write it that way."

 

RE: hyphenation ... Seems as though half the questions each night on the desk are whether something should be hyphenated. AP is attempting to reduce hyphenations. One of the rules of thumb I use now is, if you can't decided whether it should be hyphenated, then don't hyphenate it.

 

Except in this case -- and not the others -- "an" seems more correct.

 

Exactly.

 

LOL!