How many spaces after a period?

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I was taught two and have always used two but apparently that's gauche or something.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
1 76
2 12


wrinklepause, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:27 (twelve years ago) link

http://www.ideachampions.com/heart/M%20one%20finger.jpg

William (C), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:30 (twelve years ago) link

If this isn't a shutout theni am quitting sandbox.

Jeff, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:31 (twelve years ago) link

very progressive!

wrinklepause, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:31 (twelve years ago) link

http://gomeansgo.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/westside.jpg

wrinklepause, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:33 (twelve years ago) link

Let's see how many spaces ilx will allow me to add after this period. <-- I added ten spaces here.

Aimless, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:35 (twelve years ago) link

it's two spaces for fixed-width type. one space otherwise.

www.myislamicdream.com (step hen faps), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:37 (twelve years ago) link

TWO

ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ (~curious orange~), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:37 (twelve years ago) link

TWO

Illia Rump (emil.y), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:38 (twelve years ago) link

TWO

surm, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:38 (twelve years ago) link

two SB's for everybody itt

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:38 (twelve years ago) link

it's kind of stupid for the author to complain about people emailing him emails with two spaces since a lot of email clients use fixed-width fonts (courier, etc)

www.myislamicdream.com (step hen faps), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:39 (twelve years ago) link

One. Typing a second one, to me, would be like typing "1960's."

clemenza, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:39 (twelve years ago) link

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

I edit for a living and I'm always having to find/replace the hell out of those disgusting savages who use 2

Sandbox James Morrison, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:41 (twelve years ago) link

one but I wouldn't get in a knifefight over it

iatee, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:42 (twelve years ago) link

2. fuiud

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:43 (twelve years ago) link

One, two is bcz if typewriters iirc

moonbop, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:51 (twelve years ago) link

moonbop = hanson's unreleased psychedelic record

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:51 (twelve years ago) link

i was raised on 2 and it just makes sense to me. i like a bit of a breath after a sentence. i don't really care to retrain myself at this point in time.

surm, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:53 (twelve years ago) link

otm. anybody who fails to put two after a sentence, and I stop reading right then and there. should be a deportable offense imo

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:56 (twelve years ago) link

TOO BAD YOU CAN'T DO TWO SPACES IN ILX

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:57 (twelve years ago) link

hmm weird that there was a blank post immediately following mine.

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:59 (twelve years ago) link

I used two for the longest time since that was what I was taught, but now I use one. Just feels right.

the lubbock babes, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:59 (twelve years ago) link

like if I am just using one then my thumb on the space bar is tapping out the rhythms of the spheres

the lubbock babes, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:01 (twelve years ago) link


TWO

― ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ (~curious orange~), Thursday, December 15, 2011 8:37 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink


suh-

TWO

― Illia Rump (emil.y), Thursday, December 15, 2011 8:38 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink


jest

TWO

― surm, Thursday, December 15, 2011 8:38 PM (24 minutes ago)


ban

k3vin k., Friday, 16 December 2011 02:04 (twelve years ago) link

i was raised on 2 and it just makes sense to me. i like a bit of a breath after a sentence. i don't really care to retrain myself at this point in time.

― surm, Thursday, December 15, 2011 8:53 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

as somone who retrained myself not all that long ago i can assure you it's easier than you would think.

cad, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:05 (twelve years ago) link

retraining = for brainwashed sheep

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:05 (twelve years ago) link

gonna space this motherfucker like two the hard way

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:06 (twelve years ago) link

i was raised on 2 and it just makes sense to me. i like a bit of a breath after a sentence. i don't really care to retrain myself at this point in time.

― surm, Thursday, December 15, 2011 8:53 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

as somone who retrained myself not all that long ago i can assure you it's easier than you would think.

― cad, Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:05 PM (2 minutes ago)

yeah this, surprisingly

k3vin k., Friday, 16 December 2011 02:07 (twelve years ago) link

i used 2 for a while when i was younger, i don't know if someone in college set me straight or i just wised up on my own, but now i can't believe how dumb i was.

some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2), Friday, 16 December 2011 02:14 (twelve years ago) link

i'm like two more '1' votes away from having a Braveheart moment

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:15 (twelve years ago) link

dude idgi you have no grounds to be upset, you're beyond a shred of a doubt wrong, no one's gonna make you change but at least dealw/it.gif

k3vin k., Friday, 16 December 2011 03:26 (twelve years ago) link

I like how people say "2 because I was taught" as if it makes it less RONG

tumblr whineys (Cuauhtemoc Blanco), Friday, 16 December 2011 03:31 (twelve years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0WYjqu9QwE

your voice of treason, Friday, 16 December 2011 03:35 (twelve years ago) link

I think it's like a month so 30?

є(٥_ ٥)э, Friday, 16 December 2011 03:39 (twelve years ago) link

i was taught 2 but it was obvious even then that was wrong and i've always done 1

Mordy, Friday, 16 December 2011 03:39 (twelve years ago) link

TOO BAD YOU CAN'T DO TWO SPACES IN ILX

uhm.  huh.

schalke nult fear (nakhchivan), Friday, 16 December 2011 03:47 (twelve years ago) link

I think it's like a month so 30?

― є(٥_ ٥)э, Thursday, December 15, 2011 10:39 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

the dad joke force is strong in this one

some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2), Friday, 16 December 2011 03:49 (twelve years ago) link

it's two spaces for fixed-width type. one space otherwise.

― www.myislamicdream.com (step hen faps), Thursday, December 15, 2011 7:37 PM (2 hours ago)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^x1,000,000,000,000

Have to admit, I get irrationally angry when people who use MS Word or similar to do most/all of their typing insist on using two spaces, which is why I'm not reading any responses in this thread because I love you all and I cannot handle the truth.

wore glasses and said things (thejenny), Friday, 16 December 2011 03:53 (twelve years ago) link

This is strange. I was taught two and have never heard anyone say otherwise until, well, tonight.

ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ (~curious orange~), Friday, 16 December 2011 04:29 (twelve years ago) link

two is dumb from a bunch of angles one of which that its clearly a hack

Cooper Chucklebutt, Friday, 16 December 2011 04:31 (twelve years ago) link

One, definitely because 2 is an anachronism left over from typewriters and has no relevance in the word processor/digial age.

Heck HTML means any extras you type online are just gonna disappear anyway.

Leave town with an orange, and pretend you're laughing at it. (Trayce), Friday, 16 December 2011 04:32 (twelve years ago) link

(unless you force a nbsp which I'm aware you can do with code)

Leave town with an orange, and pretend you're laughing at it. (Trayce), Friday, 16 December 2011 04:32 (twelve years ago) link

One, definitely because 2 is an anachronism left over from typewriters and has no relevance in the word processor/digial age.

Yeah see I learned how to type on a typewriter at my still in the dark ages all-girls catholic HS. LOL typing was called "business class". Anyway, I didn't even know it was a typewriter thing until tonight. I thought it was how it's done. IDK. I could probably retrain myself not to do it but I don't see why. Nobody's ever said boo about it irl so I figure it's not hurting anyone.

ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ (~curious orange~), Friday, 16 December 2011 04:34 (twelve years ago) link

I never learned typing properly either way, Im a raggedy 2-finger typist which surely must be obvious from my myriad hilarious errors on here :D

Leave town with an orange, and pretend you're laughing at it. (Trayce), Friday, 16 December 2011 04:35 (twelve years ago) link

it's hurting me just knowing

Sandbox James Morrison, Friday, 16 December 2011 04:35 (twelve years ago) link

xpost

Sandbox James Morrison, Friday, 16 December 2011 04:36 (twelve years ago) link

 ooh

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Friday, 16 December 2011 11:36 (twelve years ago) link

       my

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Friday, 16 December 2011 11:36 (twelve years ago) link

I mean, once you read an explanation of why one space is better than two, it's pretty difficult to continue typing 2 spaces and live with yourself

― silverfish, Friday, December 16, 2011 12:25 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink

Wait so what's the argument other than it's no longer necessary?

ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ (~curious orange~), Friday, 16 December 2011 12:07 (twelve years ago) link

the Zog media has brainwashed them into believing the lie!

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 12:14 (twelve years ago) link

what the hell is this? ONE ffs

sonderangerbot, Friday, 16 December 2011 12:20 (twelve years ago) link

(gets gun)

if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Friday, 16 December 2011 12:23 (twelve years ago) link

I try to use at least 5 spaces after a period.

wow gould (step hen faps), Friday, 16 December 2011 13:10 (twelve years ago) link

gonna switch to 2 spaces cos judging by this thread, 1 space means you might be a tool.

horseshoe loves tom brady, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:15 (twelve years ago) link

1 space is like science and seriousness, 2 spaces is like hey read this fun thing

Matt Armstrong, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:20 (twelve years ago) link

don't be a twool

nashwan, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:20 (twelve years ago) link

voted 1

Matt Armstrong, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:20 (twelve years ago) link

I got an email the other day from someone who put one space BEFORE every fullstop and no spaces afterwards. BONKERS.

los krampusinos! (pomplamau5), Friday, 16 December 2011 13:20 (twelve years ago) link

^ not how I remember Chuck D's lyric

nashwan, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:22 (twelve years ago) link

america is the only place where more than like a dozen people use two spaces afaict.

caek, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:24 (twelve years ago) link

it's a place with vast unpopulated areas, so no shortage of space to go round.

los krampusinos! (pomplamau5), Friday, 16 December 2011 13:25 (twelve years ago) link

silby, the space after a fullstop in TeX w/o frenchspacing is not the same amount of space it puts between words within a sentence, but it's pretty much always less than two spaces (unless you're putting long words in narrow columns, in which case you are a savage). i'm white btw.

caek, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:26 (twelve years ago) link

america is the only place where more than like a dozen people use two spaces afaict.

This could be the case... I'm not super young, I've lived during the age of typewriters, and I've still never heard anything about a two space rule having been used here in Finland.

Tuomas, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:37 (twelve years ago) link

i skirt around the problem by just never ending my

smh, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:46 (twelve years ago) link

I was taught two in UK secondary school, and that was just a little over ten years ago! I quickly distanced myself from that savagery, though.

One thing I've heard of being taught in school's lately is to have one space BEFORE a comma. wtf is that?

m. yeux, Friday, 16 December 2011 13:49 (twelve years ago) link

WHAT? NO. That is not happening.

wore glasses and said things (thejenny), Friday, 16 December 2011 14:10 (twelve years ago) link

Any school where that's going on should be burned to the ground.

William (C), Friday, 16 December 2011 14:11 (twelve years ago) link

o crap i pluralised with an apostrophe, they've gotten to me too.

m. yeux, Friday, 16 December 2011 14:17 (twelve years ago) link

I want to start a poll on how people pluralize/use the possessive w/ nouns that end in s

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 14:19 (twelve years ago) link

One thing I've heard of being taught in school's lately is to have one space BEFORE a comma. wtf is that?

this has to be a mistake, why teach something that is no way used anywhere else in the entire galaxy

Fozzielad, Friday, 16 December 2011 14:23 (twelve years ago) link

To make the Klingons think they are travelling backwards.

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Friday, 16 December 2011 14:24 (twelve years ago) link

That is horrifying. How many spaces after a period is not something I care much about, but putting a space before a comma is MADNESS.

Nicole, Friday, 16 December 2011 14:25 (twelve years ago) link

I want to start a poll on how people pluralize/use the possessive w/ nouns that end in s

My last name ends in -ss and I am a staunch advocate of 's because then I get -ss's. I want all the sss!

wore glasses and said things (thejenny), Friday, 16 December 2011 14:32 (twelve years ago) link

kisses

asses

successes

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Friday, 16 December 2011 14:35 (twelve years ago) link

assesses

Derek Pringles (Deep in the Tony Hart land), Friday, 16 December 2011 14:37 (twelve years ago) link

I never could decide
So I just stopped using punctuation
And pressing return instead

oPal, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:06 (twelve years ago) link

6/10/7

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:07 (twelve years ago) link

Wait so what's the argument other than it's no longer necessary?

― ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ (~curious orange~), Friday, December 16, 2011 12:07 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink

what it is is:

in typesetting, after a full stop (a full stop that ends a sentence - this does not apply to e.g. the full stops in e.g.) you have a slightly longer space than usual - an em-space. When the typewriter came in, using fixed-width type (i.e. type in which every character is one em wide), people evoked the longer-than-a-usual-space aspect of an em-space by using two spaces rather than one, the same way that people sometimes mimic an em-dash by using a double dash thus: --.

Using a variable-fixed font, the full stop crowds close to the word it follows, giving the impression that there is an em-space following the sentence-final full stop. Some word processors may even impose an em-space after a sentence-ending full-stop in the same way that they impose a capital letter.

They are thus both approximations toward the typographical norm but at present the one-space approximation is more close an approximation.

c sharp major, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:09 (twelve years ago) link

From the unofficial Typographic 'bible'" The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst he has the following to say:

“In the nineteenth century, which was a dark and inflationary age in typography and type design, many compositors were encouraged to stuff extra space between sentences. Generations of twentieth century typists were then taught to do the same, by hitting the spacebar twice after every period [full stop]. Your typing as well as your typesetting will benefit from unlearning this quaint Victorian habit. As a general rule, no more than a single space is required after a period, colon or any other mark of punctuation.”

Chewshabadoo, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:16 (twelve years ago) link

Sorry for my as usual unchecked first sentence!! I'm sure people more concerned at proof-reading that typography will be hating me as much as using 2 spaces annoys me.

Chewshabadoo, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:17 (twelve years ago) link

He goes on to say:

"Larger spaces (e.g. en spaces) are themselves punctuation.

The rule is sometimes altered, however, when setting classical Latin and Greek, romanized Sanskrit, phonetics or other kinds of texts in which sentences begin with lowercase letters. In the absence of a capital, a full en space between sentences may be welcome.

Chewshabadoo, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:21 (twelve years ago) link

"quaint Victorian habit"? lol I am a steampunk!

clay/tone herbskirt nut/mother, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:24 (twelve years ago) link

I was taught to use two spaces, which I did up until a couple years ago when I successfully started using only one.

However, this thread is seriously making me think about switching back to two.

well in (advance johnson), Friday, 16 December 2011 16:32 (twelve years ago) link

Knock yourself out, if I ever have to set your copy I know how find and replace works.

Chewshabadoo, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:35 (twelve years ago) link

FIND: ". "
REPLACE: "big fat hairy penis"

Fozzielad, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:59 (twelve years ago) link

These arguments all boil down to "let us not forsake the gods of our fathers" vs. "god is dead, you silly geese".

Aimless, Friday, 16 December 2011 17:00 (twelve years ago) link

When learning to write with a pen(cil) while in very early years at school, I remember vaguely being taught one finger width after a comma, two after a full stop. Not with typing though.

Banned socks (Osoby), Friday, 16 December 2011 17:04 (twelve years ago) link

That's all very well, but what if you are an elephant?

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Friday, 16 December 2011 17:06 (twelve years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Friday, 30 December 2011 00:01 (twelve years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Saturday, 31 December 2011 00:01 (twelve years ago) link

Poll Results
Option Votes
1 76
2 12

About what I expected.

I use 1 space. In typing class we were taught 2 spaces (1991, on typewriters) and I kept doing it until ~2005 when I was SCHOCKED to learn that the rationale behind 2 spaces didn't apply to most typing on a computer.

It was not difficult at all to retrain myself, though the double-tap on the space bar did feel really satisfying.

Sandbox Jesse, Saturday, 31 December 2011 16:35 (twelve years ago) link

Double-tapping two-space trogs is equally satisfying, imo.

IEEE (Leee), Sunday, 1 January 2012 19:42 (twelve years ago) link

I am thinking this poll solves nothing. nothing. the bleak futility of it rises up and threatens to engulf me.

Aimless, Sunday, 1 January 2012 19:58 (twelve years ago) link

i just got an iphone and i'm worried the period trick is gonna bring back some old habits

k3vin k., Sunday, 1 January 2012 20:06 (twelve years ago) link


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