for what it's worth, i was taught two spaces after a period on a computer.
Delurking 1: Because we don't always check our e-mail.
As was I. I was confused when I got to college and discovered it was okay to just use one space. It took me a while to break the habit. Hell, I still see it sometimes.
massive, multi-page macro
Steph, this, exactly! Couldn't live without it.
I now live in fear of posting more than a sentence here
oh, no, don't fear! Post! We like your sentences!
Yeah, what was with 2 spaces, anyway?
Yeah, what was with 2 spaces, anyway?
I think everything was given equal weight/space on a typewriter? So it was maybe to help distinguish that it was indeed a period, and the end of a sentence?
I'm not sure; there's a lot of typesetting from newspapers, etc., that predates me.
for what it's worth, i was taught two spaces after a period on a computer.
Me too. As part of the prescribed style for academic papers.
Welcome davers! (Or BJ!)
...Kevin, dare I hope that it was Thatcher? Because that would make you a fucking HERO. But also you would probably have been a toddler, so probably not.
Two spaces after a period! My mom drilled that into me on the computer, but I reckon she learned it on the typewriter. I used it religiously until grad school when a journal to which I was submitting a paper specified one in no uncertain terms. That was a tough paper to write, but by the end I was retrained. *space space* "Gahh!!" *backspace* I still prefer two, though.
(Dear and fluffy Lord do I love when y'all go all grammar / punctuation geek. Maybe that means there's something wrong with me, but I'm a biochemist, so I think that ship has sailed.)
I still use two spaces, but I don't have editors to drive crazy with that habit, so I don't think I'll change it. I learned to type on a typewriter, but I think when I was in college we were still expected to use two spaces. Or not. I don't really know, but no one ever complained about it.
This space or two space thing is my plate-o-shrimp lately.
The APA has weighed in confusingly: [link]
And Wikipedia has some background for those of us going "huh?": [link]
Excellent, Trudy! Thanks! I knew it had something to do with typesetting.