Bonus Post:
Proof. Period.
At work I've been doing tons of editing and formatting and some basic document design recently and it's a huge project that will consume the next two-dozen work weeks. In the process I've discovered another pet peeve of mine: two spaces after a punctuation mark. This has always irritated me. Most people don't even notice it (like the one that occurs on purpose earlier in this paragraph, for example).
Well today as I was deleting extra spaces from the document I was editing, I decided that maybe I was wrong. Maybe there really should be two spaces after a punctuation mark. So I did what anyone in my position would do – I Googled it.
And here's my proof, courtesy of the Chicago Manual of Style (for those of you that have tried to forget everything about writing formal papers, Chicago Style is a formatting/styling system similar to APA – or that other one that even I've forgotten).
Turns out, in the old days, when papers and correspondence were typewritten with a typewriter, folks were taught to add an extra space following punctuation. This was for improved readability. Back then letters were monospaced. In other words, the letter "w" took the same amount of space as the letter "i." Fast-forward to the information age with emails, the Interwebs, and office programs like Microsoft Word, and my new favorite, Pages (the word processing program in Apple's iWork suite). The proportional fonts we use already account for the difference between i's and w's, so there is no need (no need whatsoever) for adding that little, annoying extra (as in extra-inefficient) space after a period.
If you are guilty of this out-dated practice, please, get help. If you continue, people will start to think you're old, and possibly a technophobe.
Well today as I was deleting extra spaces from the document I was editing, I decided that maybe I was wrong. Maybe there really should be two spaces after a punctuation mark. So I did what anyone in my position would do – I Googled it.
And here's my proof, courtesy of the Chicago Manual of Style (for those of you that have tried to forget everything about writing formal papers, Chicago Style is a formatting/styling system similar to APA – or that other one that even I've forgotten).
Turns out, in the old days, when papers and correspondence were typewritten with a typewriter, folks were taught to add an extra space following punctuation. This was for improved readability. Back then letters were monospaced. In other words, the letter "w" took the same amount of space as the letter "i." Fast-forward to the information age with emails, the Interwebs, and office programs like Microsoft Word, and my new favorite, Pages (the word processing program in Apple's iWork suite). The proportional fonts we use already account for the difference between i's and w's, so there is no need (no need whatsoever) for adding that little, annoying extra (as in extra-inefficient) space after a period.
If you are guilty of this out-dated practice, please, get help. If you continue, people will start to think you're old, and possibly a technophobe.
Thanks for the wealth of Knowledge! It makes me laugh to hear people's pet peeves. Thanks for making me laugh
ReplyDeleteI do think that some manuals of style (APA possibly) still go for the double space. When I was in college, Chicago was the only one that had switched over to single spacing. But I like it better, so I was glad my major used Chicago. It was like a Bible to me.
ReplyDeleteWe love comments!
ReplyDelete@Jill: You're welcome.
@C.: Thanks for bringing that up. It made me dig a little deeper. For APA I found that one space is the rule. MLA says you may use one or two, as long as you are consistent.
BTW, here's another interesting tidbit regarding the number of spaces between sentences: Brookie told me that in all of her journalism classes she was told that one space was always the rule in that discipline. Back in the days of "Newsies" when all type was set by hand, they didn't want to place an extra and entirely unnecessary character. Can you imagine how much more time it would take to place an additional space after every sentence in a newspaper. It adds up.
One space. Pass it on.
HTML code only allows one space unless you force it. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah. I read that yesterday. I fixed my post to now include the well-placed double-space.
ReplyDeleteI'll still probably use two out of habit. Sorry if it bugs you. I always make sure to spell loser right though. I'm pretty sure I learned two spaces in my word processing (word perfect) class in high school. I guess that does make me old.
ReplyDeleteYep. They probably taught me that too. I remember sitting at Bennion Jr. High in the computer lab with the old school Macs, being told to place two spaces after a period. Embrace change. ;)
ReplyDeleteTodd,
ReplyDeleteIt also depends on which your professor, boss, etc. prefers. I had profs in my undergrad who insisted on 2 spaces. Also, my spouse is an attorney and he weighed in saying: each court/judge has specific rules/styles. Mike also said that lawyers almost always use 2 spaces.
Emalee Coon Banks
Emalee Coon Banks,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that information. Despite my disdain for a pair of spaces following a period, if that's the way my boss wanted things done, I would do it in a hurry (and probably figure out how to set the preferences in Word to do it automatically).
I find the fact that lawyers almost always use two spaces kind of funny. Who would have guessed that a profession so reliant on precedence would practice antiquated typography? No offense, though. Like I said, if I had to choose between two spaces and my job I think I'd pick... well... yeah... I guess I'd have to go with my job. Luckily I'm not faced with that dilemma. Tell Mike I say hi.
Todd Jeffrey Reynolds