Style doesn't match description

I'm baffled by the behavior of styles. (Word 2003)
I've defined about a dozen styles using the New Style button on the Task
Pane -
some character and some paragraph styles.

When trying to apply the styles to some existing documents, by highlighting
the word and clicking on the new style, often the result is not at all what I
expected. The font size is different, bold and underline are sometimes
included when they are not included in the style. If I mouse-over the style
in the Task Pane "Pick formatting to apply" list, the description is right,
but the resultant text is wrong.
then clicking Modify to Match Selection in the Task Pane list, but there is
no change in the result next time the style is applied.

I must be missing some important concept about applying styles. Can anyone
point me in the right direction please? Thanks!
I've tried using the formatting buttons to correct the problem, then

Your description sounds accurate for applying character styles, but note
that you should not be applying paragraph styles to selected text unless you
have the whole paragraph selected.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
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"dsimcox" wrote in message
...
I'm baffled by the behavior of styles. (Word 2003)
I've defined about a dozen styles using the New Style button on the Task
Pane -
some character and some paragraph styles.

When trying to apply the styles to some existing documents, by
highlighting
the word and clicking on the new style, often the result is not at all
what I
expected. The font size is different, bold and underline are sometimes
included when they are not included in the style. If I mouse-over the
style
in the Task Pane "Pick formatting to apply" list, the description is
right,
but the resultant text is wrong.
then clicking Modify to Match Selection in the Task Pane list, but there
is
no change in the result next time the style is applied.

I must be missing some important concept about applying styles. Can anyone
point me in the right direction please? Thanks!
I've tried using the formatting buttons to correct the problem, then