Still, I was always taught to doublespace.
Which is it? Or does it even matter?
Answer me this age old question, please.
For now, it's singlespace, since the lettering is less indistinct.
Bastard teachers. I shall continue my double spacing ways, however, because they make me feel like I have less to type when writing papers.
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Darius! fucked around with this message on 04-28-2004 at 12:44 AM.
The only people who double space now are college students with a minimum page count but no minimum word count and people who needlessly cling to the past.
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When the babel fish was in place, it was apparent Maradon! said:
The rule has always been double space for type writers. This was done because periods would frequently smudge or be skipped over and the double space helped accentuate them. The advent of computers reduced the spaces to one because such problems are a thing of the past.The only people who double space now are college students with a minimum page count but no minimum word count and people who needlessly cling to the past.
My mom doesn't even double space anymore.
And she was a medical/legal transcriptionist with manual typewriters AND computers. ;p
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How many spaces should I leave after a period or other concluding mark of punctuation?
Publications in the United States today usually have the same spacing after a punctuation mark as between words on the same line. Since word processors make available the same fonts used by typesetters for printed works, many writers, influenced by the look of typeset publications, now leave only one space after a concluding punctuation mark. In addition, most publishers' guidelines for preparing a manuscript on disk ask authors to type only the spaces that are to appear in print.Because it is increasingly common for papers and manuscripts to be prepared with a single space after all punctuation marks, this spacing is shown in the examples in the MLA Handbook and the MLA Style Manual. [BOLD]As a practical matter, however, there is nothing wrong with using two spaces after concluding punctuation marks unless an instructor or editor requests that you do otherwise.[/BOLD]
Second Official Publication Source - APA Publication Manual
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Q: In typing class I learned that two spaces always follow a period, but your Publication Manual says one space should follow all punctuation. Why is this?A: Unlike manual typewriters, word-processing software uses fonts that result in proportional spacing, so additional spacing around periods is no longer necessary. Uniform spacing around punctuation also saves a step in preparing word-processing files for electronic editing. As a publisher, APA does not return manuscripts on the basis of the spacing around punctuation.
Finally, from the Chicago Manual of Style
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Q. Please help. I have confusion regarding the correct spacing after periods and other closing punctuation.A. The view at CMS is that there is no reason for two spaces after a period in published work. Some people, howevermy colleagues includedprefer it, relegating this preference to their personal correspondence and notes. Ive noticed in old American books printed in the few decades before and after the turn of the last century (ca. 18701930 at least) that there seemed to be a trend in publishing to use extra space (sometimes quite a bit of it) after periods. And many people were taught to use that extra space in typing class (I was). But introducing two spaces after the period causes problems: (1) it is inefficient, requiring an extra keystroke for every sentence; (2) even if a program is set to automatically put an extra space after a period, such automation is never foolproof; (3) there is no proof that an extra space actually improves readabilityas your comment suggests, its probably just a matter of familiarity (Who knows? perhaps its actually more efficient to read with less regard for sentences as individual units of thoughtmany centuries ago, for example in ancient Greece, there were no spaces even between words, and no punctuation); (4) two spaces are harder to control for than one in electronic documents (I find that the earmark of a document that imposes a two-space rule is a smattering of instances of both three spaces and one space after a period, and two spaces in the middle of sentences); and (5) two spaces can cause problems with line breaks in certain programs.
So, in our efficient, modern world, I think there is no room for two spaces after a period. In the opinion of this particular copyeditor, this is a good thing.
So, do what you like unless some official tells you differently.
Either way? Guess I'll stick with doublespace. It comes so natural it would be a hard habit to break.
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Zair said this about your mom:
Hmmm, good to hear what the MLA has to say, since that is what most of my papers have to be in.Either way? Guess I'll stick with doublespace. It comes so natural it would be a hard habit to break.
Same here. And I've had English teachers tell me to do two spaces as well. Typing just one would feel so wrong.
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From the book of Mr. Parcelan, chapter 3, verse 16:
It's two spaces. If you think otherwise you're either a heathen, a douchebag or a complete moron.
Indeed.
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Liam - "Caitlin: You terrify me, but in a good way."
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Led had this to say about Optimus Prime:
Was never tought to doublespace.
It's proper English, but not proper typing. Oh well.
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Cherveny had this to say about Robocop:
I always doublespace after periods. To do otherwise just feels...wrong.
HAH!
I always double space out of habit. Besides it's a sort of mental barrier too. To double space means that sentence and thought are finished.
Interestingly enough Microsoft Office does mark single spaces after periods as punctuation errors and often it even fixes them by itself, which must be annoying to those who need to single space.
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x--VernaltemptressO-('-'Q) :
Oh, but I fixed Word so it wouldn't do the double-space after a period correction. :neener:
Mine doesn't mark them as errors, and I didn't fix it.
Way back when, when typewriters had just been invented, each typed character took up the same amount of space on a page. An i, for example, took up just as much space as an O. So, if you were to single-space after a period, someone may think you've just put a space there, and the sentence continues. They may not notice the period. If they have to strain just to see where your sentences end, then you've written a poor paper.
Nowadays, however, fonts have letters that take up only as much space as they need. So, an i generally no longer takes as much space as an O, a 1 no longer takes as much space as a 3. So, if you single-space after a period, someone can still easily see where the sentence begins and ends. You can double-space, but it's redundant. Single-spacing takes that much less time and effort, and produces the same result.
So, in short, it all depends on what kind of font you use. Monospace (All take the same amount of space), and two spaces after each period; Multispace (All take only what space they need), and two spaces is possible but becomes redundant.
That's all I learned in Computers class, which went every day for a single semester. Everything else I was taught, I already knew. Free credit and waste of time! Huzzah!
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Gadani had this to say about Jimmy Carter:
I double space out of habit.It's proper English, but not proper typing. Oh well.
