Two spaces vs. one space?

[aephi alum]

I learned to type on a computer, but I was taught that you put two spaces after a period. Now it's ingrained in me - one space just looks wrong. Like honeychile, I'll be using two spaces until the day I die, no matter what some asshat who writes for Slate says.

[ComradesTrue]

I have always used two spaces, as that is just how I was taught in high school. Even though I still read a (gasp!) print newspaper everyday, I had never even noticed that the entire world had moved on and left me behind with my typewritter era style. I saw this article earlier this week and have been trying to adjust to just one space, but the motor memory that my fingers have has been slow to adjust.

A friend, who also is a 2-spacer, noted that facebook automatically fixes the space issue- it converts everything to one space no matter how you type it. The iPhone, however, automatically adds a period if you space twice.

[southbymidwest]

Back in the olden days when we doddering baby boomers took typing in 8th grade, it was two spaces after a period. Always. Got dinged for it on college papers if they did not have that spacing. Farhad Manjoo (the writer of the article) needs to get his/her panties out of a twist on this one.

[Still BLUTANG]

i have a friend who uses spaces before punctuation. it drives me BONKERS. what is that about?

[AGDee]

The APA Style that was required when I was in college the first time dictated that two spaces be used. NEW in APA 6.0 is the switch to one space. When we do group projects, the person doing the final editing has been going through doing Find and Replace to change two spaces to one. It saves a lot of headache and catches them all, thank goodness. I have adjusted to one space now.

[Leslie Anne]

I've been typing with two spaces for 30 years. I suppose I should try to switch to one space but I don't know that my fingers could do it. I'm not happy about this at all.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by honeychile

The only person to insist that I switch to one space between sentences is such a disgusting cretin that I would have to have a thunderbolt to ever consider using one.SPACESPACEI will continure in my present form until the day I die.

Love it! I was taught by my parents to use two spaces after a period, and one after a comma, and I will continue doing so. Another pet punctuation peeve of mine is the omission of a comma immediately before the "and" in a list. This is a source of controversy at my office.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Love it! I was taught by my parents to use two spaces after a period, and one after a comma, and I will continue doing so. Another pet punctuation peeve of mine is the omission of a comma immediately before the "and" in a list. This is a source of controversy at my office.

Ahhh the series comma debate. Have you seen Eats, Shoots & Leaves?

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Another pet punctuation peeve of mine is the omission of a comma immediately before the "and" in a list. This is a source of controversy at my office.

I was always taught that, in a list, the commas belong as follows: item a, item b, item c, item d and item e. Of course, commas are extremely controversial in general around here - in college, a common complaint amongst all the professors was that Georgia public schools (K-12) teach an overuse of commas. (Weirder still, since moving to my current city in Georgia, I've discovered that everyone who grew up here learned the strangest capitalization rules I've ever seen. It's like they think they're German.)

[LaneSig]

I'm more upset about being changed from a Libra to a Virgo than being told I'm wrong for using two spaces. I'm gonna keep on keepin' on.

[33girl]

^^Unless you're two you don't have to worry about the astrological sign thing - completely debunked.

I was always taught that the end of the series comma (rainbows, ponies, sunshine, and unicorns are everywhere) was strictly personal preference. I honestly am 50-50 as to how I use this one.

And I want to see the German punctuation. Are they speaking PA Dutch to go with it? (example: "Throw me down my purse.")

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by 33girl

And I want to see the German punctuation. Are they speaking PA Dutch to go with it? (example: "Throw me down my purse.")

They just randomly capitalize nouns for no apparent reason. At first, I just thought it was a quirk of my (now former) boss' writing style, but then I saw others writing and realized a lot of people here do it.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I was always taught that the end of the series comma (rainbows, ponies, sunshine, and unicorns are everywhere) was strictly personal preference. I honestly am 50-50 as to how I use this one.

I was always taught not to use that last comma unless it's needed for the series to make sense. ("The specials today are shepherd's pie, roast beef and potatoes, bangers and mash, and plowman's lunch.")

Originally Posted by DSTRen13

They just randomly capitalize nouns for no apparent reason.

Well, no. It's not random -- all nouns are capitalized in German -- and it's for a reason. The reason is that the rule in German is that all nouns are capitalized, just like the rule in English is that all proper nouns are capitalized.

If you look at older English writings -- I think the Declaration of Independence is an example -- you'll see we used to capitalize all nouns, too.

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Well, no. It's not random -- all nouns are capitalized in German -- and it's for a reason. The reason is that the rule in German is that all nouns are capitalized, just like the rule in English is that all proper nouns are capitalized.

If you look at older English writings -- I think the Declaration of Independence is an example -- you'll see we used to capitalize all nouns, too.

I realize it isn't random in German - I meant that it seems to be random how people I've met will capitalize nouns in English.

[lovespink88]

I believe I was taught two spaces in grade school. Somewhere along the way I switched it up to one, and never looked back. Mostly out of laziness. Yes, I am too lazy to hit the extra space.