Typing Two Spaces After a Period? You're WRONG! - Neatorama

'Fess up, Neatoramanauts. Who amongst you type two spaces after a period?

Well, according to Farhad Manjoo of Slate, you're wrong. Dead wrong:

What galls me about two-spacers isn't just their numbers. It's their certainty that they're right. Over Thanksgiving dinner last year, I asked people what they considered to be the "correct" number of spaces between sentences. The diners included doctors, computer programmers, and other highly accomplished professionals. Everyone—everyone!—said it was proper to use two spaces. Some people admitted to slipping sometimes and using a single space—but when writing something formal, they were always careful to use two. Others explained they mostly used a single space but felt guilty for violating the two-space "rule." Still others said they used two spaces all the time, and they were thrilled to be so proper. When I pointed out that they were doing it wrong—that, in fact, the correct way to end a sentence is with a period followed by a single, proud, beautiful space—the table balked. "Who says two spaces is wrong?" they wanted to know.

Typographers, that's who: Link

Comments (80)

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stuff like this is like saying that you are wrong for having purple as your favorite color. this arbitrary "rule" is arbitrary.

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I had a post about this yesterday.

http://xk9.com/bones/tt-012

There is nothing arbitrary about this rule. It is a typographic standard. Microsoft Word defaults to eliminate the second space.

If you don't mind driving a purple car or having your text look unprofessional, feel free to flaunt your ignorance for all to see.

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Don't a huge number of businesses/corporations have house-style books explicitly to cover the vagaries of what passes for 'rules' in the world of 'copy'?

Oh and wouldn't it be copywriters that would decide what is and isn't correct for 'copy' rather than typesetters or does the typesetter job cover more areas than I think?

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this is why I insist on a typing sample before I do business with anyone. I am a two-spacer, and I only do business with two-spacers like me.

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It's kind of unfair to say we're wrong, per se. At worst we may be out of date. Unfortunately, the habit is deeply ingrained. We were taught in school -- and received penalties on our grades if we forgot -- that 2 spaces was absolutely required after a period. The fact that style guides have been updated since that time doesn't really justify the whole "you people are idiots" mentality that you militant one-spacers exhibit.

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Am I the only one looking at this and seeing a tragedy?

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Neat! When I was a kid, we lived next to a lake whose dam broke in the middle of the night. It took about a week for the lake bed to be dry enough to walk on but it was great fun after that. We found all kinds of interesting things that had been lost in the lake over the years, including watches and old LPs. Much to our parents regret, we had epic mud wars. Much more fun than the lake ever had been.

Eventually it dryed up and started to look like the surface of Mars. The soil was incredible for growing crops. It's been over thirty years and last time I looked, you couldn't tell there was ever a lake there. It's filled with trees and bushes. A stream flowing through the middle is all that is left of the old lake.

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Look how silted up that lake was. Reservoirs need to be drained regularly for that reason and others. If they are not their capacity is reduced over time.

@Jon A. since it clearly wasn't a disaster why would you say that?

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@Jolly - I don't think Jon knows the story behind it. I am sure if he did, he might think otherwise.

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Very cool video. Thanx for posting this.

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Seems like a more gradual draining would have been better for the area downstream...

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Bill, the Wikipedia page about the dam, and the restoration project, says that there was debate about gradual vs. quick draining, and the conclusion was that quick draining would have less overall impact.

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Yes, Jon, you are.

Please explain why you feel that it's a tragedy, though, and you may convince others.

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