#243267 - 03/12/2004 17:28
Spaces after punctuation
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2858
Loc: Atlanta, GA
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OK, so I just got nailed on this trying to correct my boss's grammar. I told him that he should have two spaces after his periods and couldn’t believe he didn’t know that. Then, just to check myself I did a google search and came up with all sorts of resources saying that you should only put one space after a period because we aren’t limited to fixed length character sets anymore. How did I miss this? Is it really correct to put only one space after punctuation? Will I ever be able to undo years of double tapping the spacebar?
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-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
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#243268 - 03/12/2004 17:32
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: JeffS]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Two spaces after a period was back in the days of typewriters and monospaced fonts.
True typesetting, as any typographer will tell you, is one space after a period.
These days, everything we type is like typesetting because modern computers, printers, web sites, etc., all have true typesetting capabilities.
Smart quotes still seem to elude a lot of systems, and don't translate well across all systems, but other than that, we're all typesetters these days.
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#243269 - 03/12/2004 17:39
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Gah.12I will double-space after I type a period until I die!12I do not care what the typographers say!12
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Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs
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#243270 - 03/12/2004 17:39
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
True typesetting, as any typographer will tell you, is one space after a period.
That implies that there should be the same amount of space after a period as after a word, which is untrue. With true typesetting, the space after a word is different than space after a period, usually about a space and a half. Most good typesetting utilities are smart enough to recognize this and automatically do the right thing (including fixing double spaces, for that matter). In fact, you sometimes have to specifically tell typesetting software that a specific period is not used to end a sentence, often in the cases of abbreviations and titles. I still use double spaces after periods because it's more correct in a dumb setting, and most smart settings are smart enough to fix it for me.
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Bitt Faulk
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#243271 - 03/12/2004 17:49
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2858
Loc: Atlanta, GA
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Quote:
I still use double spaces after periods because it's more correct in a dumb setting, and most smart settings are smart enough to fix it for me.
Well that's good to know. If Bitt does it, then it's good enough for me!
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-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
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#243272 - 03/12/2004 18:00
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: JeffS]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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I'm no Bitt, but I'm with you as well. It certainly never hurts to have two spaces, and _not_ doing it would slow my typing.
-Zeke
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WWFSMD?
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#243273 - 03/12/2004 19:02
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: JeffS]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Sometimes when I see these questions, I run to mommy. Of course, it's useful when she's a research editor: Quote:
Not really a grammar question--more of a typographical style question, in the category of technical minutiae! National Geographic uses one space after a period, although I don't know why! And we're told (in no uncertain terms) to use one space when we submit material for our website. I used two until recently, but one seems to be the standard these days, so I guess we'll both have to get used to it!
I suppose you've come across this web page, which discusses the issue ad nauseum: http://www.webword.com/reports/period.html
Personally, I prefer two spaces...because I'm afraid of change 
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Matt
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#243274 - 03/12/2004 23:30
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: pgrzelak]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
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Quote:
I will double-space after I type a period until I die!
Amen brother, amen. I only recently heard that single space was the wave of the future, and that my double space was "showing my age".
My rediculous logic justified the single space craze "because straight HTML ignores multiple spaces, thus the new generation just mimics what they see online everyday."
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- FireFox31 110gig MKIIa (30+80), Eutronix lights, 32 meg stacked RAM, Filener orange gel lens, Greenlights Lit Buttons green set
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#243275 - 04/12/2004 14:05
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
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A single space looks just as incorrect with a proportional font as it does with a fixed pitch one. The best historical fact in the web page linked above is the use of the wedge spacer on the old linotype machine. The typewriter versus computer explanation doesn't fly. Of you want to verify this, try a paragraph in a fixed pitch font and proportional with single and double spaces. I tend to always use two spaces as it was the way I was taught and it's now just force of habit. It doesn't hurt forum postings either way and it doesn't affect HTML.
The rivers of blank space within a line argument is also weak (from the link). This has less to do with two spaces after punctuation, and more to do with poor justification.
Bruno
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#243276 - 04/12/2004 14:26
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: hybrid8]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
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I tend to agree. I'm still going to double-space.
Let me just get something straight: we all agree, and all evidence points toward the fact, that there's supposed to be a greater space between sentences than between words. Right? That seems right to me. Well, then I'd say that the double-space is still necessary in many if not most cases.
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Matt
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#243277 - 04/12/2004 16:02
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
we all agree, and all evidence points toward the fact, that there's supposed to be a greater space between sentences than between words. Right?
I personally dislike seeing text typeset that way, unless the difference is very subtle. "Supposed to" is a different question.
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#243278 - 04/12/2004 16:20
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Funny, until this discussion came up, I never really thought about the fact that the board follows the HTML spec and only puts in one space. Doesn't stop me from entering two, though
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Matt
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#243279 - 04/12/2004 17:46
Re: Spaces after punctuation
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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Quote:
I never really thought about the fact that the board follows the HTML spec and only puts in one space.
The board doesn't get to vote -- it's your browser. If you "View Source", or reply, you'll see all your posts double-spaced -- which web browsers the world over are silently correcting for us. 
Peter
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