Following a period, one or two spaces?

[Grenage]

When I was in school (25 now), I'm sure that I was taught to use two spaces after a period; in fact I am positive. Regardless, to this day I still use two spaces at the beginning of each new sentence following a period.

The reason I bring this up is because nobody else in my office has ever heard of this rule (apparently). Have any of you?

Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Lunatic - With sufficient grammar detection rules, it might be possible, but I don't think it's practical.

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[voxwoman]

It's not best practice anymore. And as a writer that's had to go through hundreds of pages of documentation and REMOVE the extra space after a period, since that was the rule of the styleguide, I'm begging you - STOP.

 

[CajunCenturion]

voxwoman - Sounds like your life would have been a lot easier if your boss has chosen a different style guide.
Hopefully next week, you won't get a new boss who decides to use a different style guide as a basis. It really comes down to which style guide you choose.

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[gbaughma]

voxwoman:

Umm.... Edit --> Replace --> (two spaces), replace with (one space)

Just my 2¢
"Life gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste." -Bonnie Raitt "Nick of Time"
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[hotfusion]

Interesting discussion.
I attended grammar school (for all the good it did me.) and was not taught to leave two spaces after a full stop, and don't recall it ever being discussed.

One point of interest: When coding in HTML, multiple spaces are ignored and interpreted by the browser as a single space.

Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My pathetic attempts at learning HTML can be laughed at here:
My home page

 

[philhege]

 

Repeat as necessary (usually twice) ;^)

 

[hotfusion]

Correct - that's the way to produce an extra space or ten in HTML: A non-breaking space entity.

My point is that the people originally responsible for establishing HTML code saw fit to ignore anything more than one blank space, suggesting that they didn't recognise this 'two spaces after a full stop' idea.

I'll continue with just the one until I'm persuaded that it is incorrect.

Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My pathetic attempts at learning HTML can be laughed at here:
My home page

 

[philhege]

Well, not that it's incorrect, but that the convention has changed over the years. In the last century, when I learned to type on a manual Underwood, we were instructed to place two spaces after a sentence-ending period or a colon. My knuckles still remember the feel of a metal-edged ruler, so I'm reluctant to change my typing style even today.

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> My point is that the people originally responsible for establishing HTML code saw fit to ignore anything more than one blank space,
I seriously doubt the people originally responsible for establishing HTML code should be considered a reliable source with respect to proper English usage.

That being said, and as I said in my earlier post, the two spaces after full stop rule in no longer in vogue. It's demise began with the use of proportional fonts and full justification.


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Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein