Agencies use their own style guides, and I guarantee* you that ‘spit-up’ does not appear in the AP manual of style.
So it’s either sloppy editing, or shadow editorialising. Neither of which we should be pleased with.
In my opinion, it’s a dog whistle.
*I may not honour this guarantee. I am a turd like that.
They call it the AP stylebook, and you’re right, it doesn’t (I actually have the book, and looked), which in the world of style guides is a green light to go ahead and use it. It would only be in a style guide if there was some usage note a writer or editor had to be aware of. Its omission means there are no usage notes, and since it’s a real word in numerous established dictionaries, that’s as close as you can get to having full permission to use it.
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