It's actually not necessarily this forum that's doing it - HTML only displays one space, unless you specifically use non-breaking spaces.
I always type two spaces after a period and one space after a comma. It's how I learned and will likely never change.
Bah - yes this forum is displaying only one space when I type two - how dare it!
I always type two spaces after a period and one space after a comma. It's how I learned and will likely never change.
this seriously isn't even debated except among people who started typing before the days of proportional fonts on word processors, or people whose typing teachers misled them without knowing what the reasoning was for two spaces after a period. the reign of the monospaced-output typewriter was relatively brief in comparison to the long history of proportional typesetting. one space after a period was the standard for centuries, and now we all have times new roman or something similar so the days of two spaces are over.
Apparently my print shop teacher also misled me. When we set type he always had us set an em-quad after a period ending a sentence. Spaces were used between words, and en-quads were used with other punctuation. i don't remember if he got that out of a text book, but do remember a kid getting totally reamed for using only spaces and not quads....
and in a print shop you're also doing a lot of other things that affect the flow and spacing of text, like justification, kerning, hair spaces here and there... most people should leave that stuff to the pros and just follow the rule of thumb.
It's always two spaces between sentences. It's the law. D*mmit.
:P
I wonder if this is an American thing. I never heard or saw this until my first encounters with the New World on Usenet, in my first year of Computer Science. It looked like typos to me, not being used to them. Uhoh, he double hit the space. Only later I learned it was some rule. I never saw a use for it, because a sentence already has two characters to separate it from others, and the period already provides extra white space to the right (in case of fixed width), and it was never a problem. So if you use this, you're training your eyes to be less perceptive for the other form, which is just as effective if you had chosen that way instead ;)
two spaces is appropriate for monospaced typefaces. it's easier to see where sentences begin and end.
one space is appropriate for proportional typefaces. using two spaces with a proportional typeface creates distracting holes in the text and does not aid legibility. examine any professionally typeset book -- there is one space at the end of each sentence.
web browsers automatically collapse whitespace. no matter how many spaces you put, you'll only get one in the rendered output.
Personally, I have never even heard of using two spaces until I read this thread, and I've studied things which involve typing a lot.
How old are you? I would imagine that the two-space thing is more prominent amongst some of our elder members (including myself).
What galls me about two-spacers isn't just their numbers. It's their certainty that they're right.
I use two spaces for MLA/college format papers. Wastes more room. And you really get the idea of a pause.
then my complacent public school educators stopped carring.
Apparently.
Wee speek gooder inglish in Texas. Governor Perry even said this was going to be the Texas century.
Whatever the hell that means. Maybe I need to get a Passport for my next trip to Chicago.
Bro, you aren't missing much
Mexican food and chicken fried steak is pretty common in Texas.
There are some beautiful areas to visit between Austin and San Antonio in what we call the "Hill Country,"
That's exactly what I'm looking for. America is a fascinating country for me, but Mass. looks to European for me.
In Texas you can drive in one direction for an entire day and still be in Texas, and not have seen anything interesting. People who come to visit the US from Europe are often appalled at how far away everything is, and Texas is the extreme example.
You might enjoy Yosemite or something if you are into nature. But Austin is definitely an interesting place; everyone loves Austin.
If you want to better appreciate every other drive you ever take in your life, try driving once from Phoenix to Ft. Worth.
If you want to better appreciate every other drive you ever take in your life, try driving once from Phoenix to Ft. Worth.
That's brutal. I'd probably kill myself. If possible, I try to fly if it's going to be more than about 3 hours of driving. I'll drive to DFW, but that's pushing it for me.
Tubing in the river North of Austin with a innertube, a dog, a girl in a bikini, and a case of beer is Texas Heaven.
Wait, what's the speed limit in the U.S. again?
two spaces is appropriate for monospaced typefaces. it's easier to see where sentences begin and end.As this was pointed out early in the thread, I felt no need to weigh in; this is quite correct. Two spaces for typing, one space for typesetting.
one space is appropriate for proportional typefaces. using two spaces with a proportional typeface creates distracting holes in the text and does not aid legibility. examine any professionally typeset book -- there is one space at the end of each sentence.
In Texas you can drive in one direction for an entire day and still be in Texas, and not have seen anything interesting. People who come to visit the US from Europe are often appalled at how far away everything is, and Texas is the extreme example. You might enjoy Yosemite or something if you are into nature. But Austin is definitely an interesting place; everyone loves Austin.
If you want to better appreciate every other drive you ever take in your life, try driving once from Phoenix to Ft. Worth.
I found Texas full of amazing art.Show Image(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5004/5371130529_fda852c5fd_z.jpg)
Speedlimit? Is that how fast my car can go at maximum? I don't understand, never heard of something like that.What, you never drive anywhere but on the Autobahn?
Yep, old pic.
When I was there Texas had Character, not Condos.
Betcha this town is still around.Show Image(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/5373662968_08dee5217b_z.jpg)
Speedlimit? Is that how fast my car can go at maximum? I don't understand, never heard of something like that.