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November 05, 2007Rumors of *Two-Spaces-After-a-Period*'s Death Are Highly Exaggerated
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Friends,
I learned to type on an actual manual typewriter in the 1980's folks! The one space thingy just looks too "internety," if I may use that word, on printed hardcopy. Same with the extra space between paragraphs and no paragraph indentions. Should we or shouldn't we make distinctions between the two types of writing?
I've found that . . .
. . . I'm not the only one who feels this way! In addition to the comments left below (please share your thoughts) visit the article hyperlinked below that I found when I had to "verify" that this rule was still in existence.
Happy typing,
Lee
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. . . After years of doing it correctly, I have gone and purposely done it wrong over and over again. I know what is considered right (no double space) and what is considered wrong (double space), but after years of doing graphic design, I no longer follow that rule so closely. I have two exceptions I personally follow, and nobody has ever noticed until I point it out to them (and then they chastise me for not knowing the 'correct way'). I know that professional typesetters use 1 space, and I know that typing teachers taught 2 spaces, and I know why. In professional printing, you have . . .
Click Here to Read the Rest of Adrian Roselli's Post "Two Spaces After a Period Isn't Dead Yet"
Posted by lhobbs at November 5, 2007 08:42 PM
LEAVE A COMMENT:
Readers' Comments:
Thanks for writing this man. The one space thing irritates the living crap out of me!
I honestly think it's a matter of pure laziness. It's part of our system of writing and is just as important as using tabs (which also seem to be disappearing). It's part of the logical system of separation of ideas.
Of course I'll admit that I often forget whether the two-space rule applies to semicolons or not. But for periods, it's a must!
Posted by: Drew Ward at October 8, 2007 09:05 AM
Hi Drew,
LOL, yeah my writing students think I'm either totally insane or just plain mean for requiring this. Is typing still taught in high schools? I'm guessing there are PC tutorials now that schools use on classroom computers. I wonder if those programs teach the two-space rule for typed manuscripts or not.
Thanks for your comments,
Lee
Posted by: Lee Hobbs at October 27, 2007 09:17 AM
I wish software such as WORD would put a little squiggly line every time someone failed to click the space bar twice.
Great post!
the forums
www.eltworld.net/forums
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Hi David, thanks for your comment. I'm pretty sure that in MS-Word 2003, the version I use, you can set up a grammar or typing rule to visually acknowledge (or, auto-correct), the number of spaces after a period. The newest version of MS-Word is the Vista version. I don't have that version on my own systems (it's really different in format from all the previous versions) and thus, don't know where that particular function is--but, I feel sure it must exist. Do a search for it and please let me know if anything turns up. I'll repost it here.
Posted by: David Vincent at November 24, 2007 02:51 PM
Lee,
I went to high school in the late nineties. I was taught two spaces! I didn't even find out one space was the norm until a few months ago. I agree with Drew! Laziness! I can't stand it! Who decided on one space, anyway? And why? What a stupid change! I'm going to start a revertolution (a revolution that moves us back). Who's with me?
Hauskhat
Posted by: Hauskhat at November 27, 2007 02:54 PM
Hi Hauskhat,
Thanks for your comments.
Yeah, sign me up for that revertolution!
Lee
Posted by: Lee Hobbs at November 27, 2007 05:25 PM
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