One space or two between sentences?

[Varian P]

Somewhere along the way, I've become convinced that the convention is a single space between sentences, that the rule of two spaces is an ancient one, gone the way of the typewriter.

But it's been suggested to me that this is not the case.

I put the dilemma before the wise editors of Lit: one space, or two?

Thanks in advance,

Varian

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I'd like to know too. I was taught two. I was told here on Lit - one. My version of Word automatically puts two.

 

[cloudy]

I was taught that it should be two spaces, but I've read that the convention is changing to one space.

I wouldn't think it would really matter as long as you were consistent.

 

[Darkniciad]

I was taught two as well. Personally, I find the text hard to read with only one space in many fonts. HTMLs default is to strip extra spaces, so you see a lot of it on the web.

Gets on my nerves

 

[meg1]

I'm putting my vote in with two spaces after a period, and one after all other punctuation. I know that more recently only one space has become more common, a lot of that has to do with the computer and that all characters take up the same amount of space, no matter which one it is. This means that the period is no longer overwhelmed by the character that might follow it (previously on a typerwriter the 'w' for example took up twice as much space as the 'i'. Therefore, it would make it look like there wasn't as much space after a period with some letters. So, two spaces always made the end of the sentence be obvious.

Having said that, I learned to type on a typewriter, and I still put two spaces after a period. Two spaces are what's required for all papers submitted in my master's courses. I will continue that.

If someone sends me work with consistently one space after the period I do not fix every one of them.

(P.S. your grammar check on MS Word will accept one or two without showing you a problem.)

 

[sr71plt]

One space. I refer you to The PC/MAC Is Not a Typewriter, by Robin Williams (no, not that Robin Williams), which will tell of several things the era of the typewriter (now gone) screwed up in the world of printing.

In the printing world, there never were two spaces between sentences. There was one space, plus a bit extra leading (creating a bit more than one space in total). When the typewriter came along, it couldn't hack that. Enter the double spaces (which continued to be translated to one space plus a bit of leading for anything that got printed).

Now, along came the computer some twenty years ago, which could automatically add that smidgen of leading between sentences, out went the typewriter (although apparently not mentality, or this space question wouldn't continue popping up). So, we're back to where we began (and the printing world never left). Just put one space between sentences and the computer/printing process takes care of the rest. If you put two, someone's got to clean it up if it's going into a printing process.

(Another thing the typewriter couldn't handle was italics, which is the reason--and the only reason--that we ever used underlining to denote italics when we were keying on a typewriter.)

 

[sr71plt]

a lot of that has to do with the computer and that all characters take up the same amount of space, no matter which one it is.

This is not really true. There are nonproportional (or fixed-pitch) fonts (Courier) that give equal spaces, but most fonts now are proportional (e.g., New Times Roman) that have varying widths for the characters. There increasingly are fewer of the former in use and more of the latter.

P.S. what you are reading now is a proportional font. Look closely; the characters are not even spaced.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... My version of Word automatically puts two. ...

... your grammar check on MS Word will accept one or two without showing you a problem ...

This is a user option in MSWord. See http://wordtips.vitalnews.com/Pages/T001820_An_Automatic_Two_Spaces_After_a_Period.html where the technical aspects are covered exhaustively.

For a discussion of the relative merits of one and two, see http://www.webword.com/reports/period.html where there is more discussion than any reasonable person would need.

 

[snoopercharmbrights]

... a lot of that has to do with the computer and that all characters take up the same amount of space, no matter which one it is. This means that the period is no longer overwhelmed by the character that might follow it (previously on a typewriter the 'w' for example took up twice as much space as the 'i'. ...

Er ... most typewriters (including ALL non-electric ones) used constant spacing, just like Courier font on a word processor. It is only with the advent of computers and the myriad of fonts available that most people have been able to use proportional spacing.

 

[sr71plt]

Er ... most typewriters (including ALL non-electric ones) used constant spacing, just like Courier font on a word processor. It is only with the advent of computers and the myriad of fonts available that most people have been able to use proportional spacing.

lol. "People" have been using proportional spacing since Gutenberg (15th century). Only typewriter typists haven't been able to do that. We're in the era of computers now. And we never left the age of the printing press.

 

[m1k3]

Deep!

lol.[..] We're in the era of computers now. And we never left the age of the printing press.

That's a good point;
the beginning of one era doesn't necessarily mean the ending of the previous.

Hey, what's with all this technical talk here? Aren't we all here for erotic stuff?

Sheesh... I come back after years and find it's more geek than freak.
(no offence meant, I'm a freaky geek so I totally fail it both ways).

 

[sr71plt]

That's a good point;
the beginning of one era doesn't necessarily mean the ending of the previous.

Hey, what's with all this technical talk here? Aren't we all here for erotic stuff?

Sheesh... I come back after years and find it's more geek than freak.
(no offence meant, I'm a freaky geek so I totally fail it both ways).

The question was a technical aside from Varian P--who can do erotic for you that would knock your socks off. And this is the editorial section of the forum. What would you expect to find here?

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Odd. I looked at the "PSU Style Sheet" from my college days. It says two. I also have my older sister's style sheets from Universty of Washington and Princeton. They both say one. My younger sister went to Columbia and Lewis & Clark Law. I asked her. She looked at me like I was stupid. Her comment, "How the hell should I know? I have standardized form I got from (name deleted) when I quit there. If I can't fit it to a form, I give it to a secretary. It's their problem."

I discovered that you can turn off the double space in Word (2007). But when you do the grammar check thingy still gives you a little blue line telling you it might be wrong.

Fuck it. I don't think it matters.

 

[Varian P]

Many thanks, all!

sr71plt and snooper--I somehow knew you'd have an answer, and references to back it up!

 

[Varian P]

The question was a technical aside from Varian P--who can do erotic for you that would knock your socks off.

Aw, thanks.

Though it's not the socks I aim to get off.

(See, that's a perfect example of why I never write humor...)

 

[sr71plt]

Odd. I looked at the "PSU Style Sheet" from my college days. It says two.

A. This may date when you went to college. (In the typwriter days, it was two spaces.)

B. College ain't publishing. (There seems to be a problem in getting this fundamental truth across)

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

A. This may date when you went to college. (In the typwriter days, it was two spaces.)

B. College ain't publishing. (There seems to be a problem in getting this fundamental truth across)

Sorry, SR but that was only 17 years ago, and yes, it was just at the beginning of the "computer revolution." But still, what you learned and what you were downgraded and berated for tends to say with you.

 

[RawHumor]

When I got my MBA a few years ago, the standard... (some weird 'official' standard that we had to follow - I don't remember what it is right now)... anyway, the standard was to use one space, in the electronic world.

If you're hand-writing something, then you'll want a bit more.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

Weighing In

When I got my MBA a few years ago, the standard... (some weird 'official' standard that we had to follow - I don't remember what it is right now)... anyway, the standard was to use one space, in the electronic world.

If you're hand-writing something, then you'll want a bit more.

This is a good question, single space versus double (hoping that weighing in at the end the subject hasn't appreciably changed)

I started off initially as a devoted "one-spacer" but have since evolved to a "two-spacer". The additional spacing helps the eyes to separate thoughts. After reading/writing gobs of tech manuals the delimiter is welcomed.

And I'm sure some will quickly claim erotic stories are not techincal in nature.

Whatever. Two spaces, I loudly declare, for what good it is worth.

 

[palisa]

Pilot, leading is the vertical space between lines in printed text.

And beyond what's probably a snide correction (I apologize), I think the answer is that it makes little difference, because modern editing/typesetting equipment (I work with Quark, but I think most others are the same) will compress or expand spacing between sentences before adjusting intra-word spacing to justify a line of type on a page.

 

[sr71plt]

Pilot, leading is the vertical space between lines in printed text.

And beyond what's probably a snide correction (I apologize), I think the answer is that it makes little difference, because modern editing/typesetting equipment (I work with Quark, but I think most others are the same) will compress or expand spacing between sentences before adjusting intra-word spacing to justify a line of type on a page.

Yes, it is snide, since it isn't fully correct. It's also whatever extra spacing (originally slugs of lead) they put between characters for more character space or to kern. You might reread your copy of Pocket Pal (which I assume you possess).