Associated Press needs to update its Stylebook: People from South Boston are NOT Southies

The Associated Press sent a story out over the wire about Dana White, a guy from Southie who has gotten rich arranging fights involving people in a cage trying to beat each other up. It's the ultimate success story, but AP's Dan Gelston needs to be put in a cage himself with a guide to Boston English, because he keeps calling White "a Southie."

No, just no, stop it:

Long before he ran the UFC White was a "Southie" trying to make his way in boxing who dodged the money collectors for notorious crime boss Whitey Bulger that came knocking at his door. ...

Had you not known White was UFC's maestro of mayhem, he'd be mistaken for just another Southie. Bald, street tough, Patriots jacket and T-shirt, poking around for a way into a building without an invitation. ...

White could be one of them today, because for 10 years he was one — a Southie just trying to stay afloat in his adopted hometown.

The story is appearing in newspapers and on Web sites across the country. Now, none of them would know how grating that is, except maybe the Boston Herald, but the Herald has whittled down its copy desk, and nobody caught or corrected the mistake in their version.

Earlier:
California newspaper apologizes for calling South Boston residents Southies, but says it's kind of our fault.
The Times hears the outraged Southie howls.