one space or two?

[Babs]

For some reason it drives me crazy when I see two spaces after a period. _ _ The second space seems excessive with modern proportional fonts, and I find it visually distracting. _ _ But then other people tell me I'm nuts. _ _ Surely I'm not alone in this?

[scottie]

For some reason it drives me crazy when I see two spaces after a period. _ _ The second space seems excessive with modern proportional fonts, and I find it visually distracting. _ _ But then other people tell me I'm nuts. _ _ Surely I'm not alone in this?

I think the two spaces went the way of the typewriter.

[creekster]

Two spaces are better. Easier on the eye and makes it easier to read faster, IMO, as it makes it easier to find the next sentence once you have discened the essential content of the current one. You dang kids are just too lazy to do anything properly.

[MarkGrace]

Two.

[SteelBlue]

Two spaces. No question.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I always do two spaces, because that is what I thought was right and I want to look smart to you people.Sorry,I'll stop wasting bandwidth.

[creekster]

I always do two spaces, because that is what I thought was right and I want to look smart to you people.Sorry,I'll stop wasting bandwidth.

A perfect metaphor for the value of much we see on the interweb thingie: spaces have as much bandwidth value as letters.

[scottie]

One Space or Two?

How many spaces should be included after end punctuation such as a period (full stop), exclamation point, and question mark?

One.

It's true. Believe me. Despite what your teachers taught and typewriters required in decades past, the number of spaces after end punctuation--and after a colon--is one.

Wanting to be certain I was not conveying bad advice, I just checked five current style guides on my bookshelf:

• Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications
• The Chicago Manual of Style
• The Associated Press Stylebook
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
• The Gregg Reference Manual

All five dictate the use of just one space.

A sixth reference, The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, waffles. Although it renders all its examples with just one space, and it states that most publishers' guidelines advise one space, it adds that "there is nothing wrong with using two spaces after concluding punctuation marks unless an instructor asks you to do otherwise."

But there is something wrong with using two spaces: it's dated and out of step. We spaced twice because of the uniform size of the type on our typewriters. But with computers and word processing software, we have had proportional type (with m and w rendered bigger than i and f) for decades. Why choose to be old-fashioned in business writing?

If you've been fighting this change, stop. Some life changes are difficult, but breaking the two-space habit is simple. Get your computer to help you. If you're worrying about how to remove those redundant spaces in reports you have published for years, just use your software to "Find and Replace All" the two-space occurrences with single spaces. Also, set your grammar and spelling checker to correct you when you fall back into old ways. It's much easier than taking off excess pounds or exercising every day.

Do you need an inspiring reason to make the change? Think of it as a simple way to improve the world. If we just eliminate all those billions of unnecessary spaces, imagine how much shorter our business documents will be.

http://www.businesswritingblog.com/b...ace_or_tw.html

[jay santos]

For some reason it drives me crazy when I see two spaces after a period. _ _ The second space seems excessive with modern proportional fonts, and I find it visually distracting. _ _ But then other people tell me I'm nuts. _ _ Surely I'm not alone in this?

One spacers drive me nuts.

[Babs]

I think the two spaces went the way of the typewriter.

This is what I learned when I was working at a publishing house back in the nineties. But it has recently been brought to my attention (by -coughcough- someone way not near as smart or educated as me) that in law it is still customary, if not obligatory, to use two spaces.

Honestly, I don't think I could bring myself to use two spaces if I tried.

[creekster]

Anybody that cites the microsoft guide to style for anythign loses all credibility wiht me.

[Babs]

...

Right. This is where I'm at. There's not a single editorial guide that still allows for the use of two, but apparently it persists in certain "professions."

[Babs]

Anybody that cites the microsoft guide to style for anythign loses all credibility wiht me.

yeah, but that guide cited all the heavy hitters.

wait a minute! what are you doing lecturing on tpyogr aph yanyway? lol.

[TripletDaddy]

Two spaces is weak. One space is plenty.

My FIL has all sorts of annoying habits that set off all sorts of Chicago Manual of Style alarms.

He will spell out a number and always follow it with the numeric equivalent in parenthesis.

"There will be three (3) of us coming over for dinner tonight. I was hoping that after dinner we could purchase five (5) movie tickets and all of us could attend together."

Also, he frequently employs slashes and spaces when a comma would suffice. Or, in lieu of a comma, how about changing the sentence structure altogether?

"The restaurant will have a wide variety of chicken / fish / meat. There should be something for everyone. Look forward to meeting everyone's spouse / significant other."

Pisses me off.

[Pheidippides]

This is what I learned when I was working at a publishing house back in the nineties. But it has recently been brought to my attention (by -coughcough- someone way not near as smart or educated as me) that in law it is still customary, if not obligatory, to use two spaces.

Honestly, I don't think I could bring myself to use two spaces if I tried.

DDD, are you going to take this affront to your education and intellect?