As a freelance copywriter, I write for a bunch of different organizations from event promoters in the gay community to nonprofits and Web 2.0 technology companies. Most of my clients don’t have a set of rules they enforce for their marketing materials. I never know who uses a comma before “and” in a series or who italicizes a magazine name because they don’t know if they do those things.

A few days ago I decided I would adopt The Associated Press Stylebook as the primary Avenue Z style. It arrived a couple of days ago, and, geek that I am, I have been reading the dang thing cover to cover. This book will join Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style on my reference shelf.

Oh, the joy of having rules! Here are ten random things that I’m glad the Stylebook tells me how to write:

1. Choose “cleft lip” over “harelip.”
2. There’s a hyphen in “hanky-panky.”
3. The preferred term is “flutist,” not “flautist.”
4. “Cop: Be careful in the use of this colloquial term for ‘police officer.’ It may be used in lighter stories and in casual, informal descriptions, but often is a derogatory term out of place in serious police stories.”
5. A “pom-pom” can be a rapid firing automatic weapon. “Pompoms” or “pompons” are what cheerleaders shake (among other things).
6. “Impassible” means that passage was impossible, such as an “impassable bridge.” “Impassible” suggests an inability to be affected, and “impassive” implies that no reaction was visible.
7. You don’t have to capitalize “tollhouse cookies.”
8. There is no plural of the word “Ms.” If you have a list of women with that title, you have to say “Ms. Smith” and “Ms. Ziesenis.”
9. There’s no period after the “Dr” in “Dr Pepper.”
10. “Continual” means a steady repetition, over and over again. “Continuous” means uninterrupted, steady, unbroken.