Two spaces vs. one space?

[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.)

[Lil' Hannah]

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.

Who gives a eff about an Oxford comma?

[RaggedyAnn]

The rule was two for those of us who learned on typewriters, but agzg is right about computers. I THINK it's because we are using different fonts now. Andy and I were talking about this last night, because a friend had posted about it on Facebook. He had never heard of the new rule and I wasn't aware of it until I took a Technical Writing class two years ago. Facebook, however, does autocorrect, which I had never noticed.

[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.

[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.

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by 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.

I'm trying to type this reply only using one space. I've had to go back every time and delete a space. After 30+ years there's no way I'm changing.

[ZTAngel]

I was taught two spaces in school. Then I entered the Marketing/PR world where everything resolves around the journalistic-style of one space. I use one space when I'm typing press releases or other marketing propaganda but will use two spaces for everything else.

[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.

[pearlbubbles]

I was taught to double space in middle school, I believe. That wasn't too long ago and I am not a fan of the recent change to one space. I think it makes the sentences look smushed. Even though I hold a BA in English, I just really like the aesthetics of the two spaces, rules be darned.