I stand with Dana at the two-space barricade.

edit: cue the kerfuffle music, something a la Le Mis.

You will pry my double-spaces out of my cold, dead hands, which will still be reaching for the space bar.

This was me for a very long time. I've loosened up enough that I don't fight it if something's submitted with single spaces - but with docs from Engineers I still get enough of them that use both single and double IN THE SAME DOCUMENT (OFTEN THE SAME PARAGRAPH), I still get my panties in a bunch even without embracing the double to the exclusion of all others (Consistency, you Bastards!)

I unlearned two spaces as soon as I learned that one space was all that was needed.

It is a hard habit to break.

As recorded in the Chicago Manual of Style. "Being without two / Takes a lot of getting used to..."

I remove double spaces from every manuscript automatically, before I even start editing it.

Yeah, we actually did get the occasional manuscript (and by "manuscript," I mean Word doc) with a line break at the end of every line (not sentence). As if it were typed on a typewriter. And when we asked the author to reformat it and remove the extra line breaks, they replied "I do not understand what you mean by 'extra line breaks'."

Yep. That's happened to me more than once. These are Ph.D.'s, people. We have a program that removes extra line breaks. I don't know how it works. It may just be a small tired person in a dimly-lit room.

When I see CMOS, I think complementary metal-oxide semiconductor. If that doesn't make sense in context, then I remember it's Chicago Manual of Style.

Please, PhDs are the worst.

Please, PhDs are the worst.

What is up with that? They're supposed to be smart.

So smart that they can't think about things like deadlines, writing, consistency, or any kind of common courtesy to people who aren't their direct colleagues.

(Yes, there are people who don't meet this description. There are plenty more who do.)

I remove double spaces from every manuscript automatically, before I even start editing it.

I had a magical macro I ran that changed all manner of things that authors automatically did. I was so damn proud of that macro.

Yep. That's happened to me more than once. These are Ph.D.'s, people. We have a program that removes extra line breaks. I don't know how it works. It may just be a small tired person in a dimly-lit room.

Yeah, we never figured out that one. The best we could hope for was that they put 2 line breaks between paragraphs, which would let us remove single instances of line breaks and still retain the breaks between paragraphs.

I *really* need to start my job, man. I'm talking about my old job all wistfully! (I get the contract to sign this week.) And I'm realizing that working from home means I need a new pair of slippers and more yoga pants, much to Tim's chagrin.

Please, PhDs are the worst.

What is up with that? They're supposed to be smart.

Jesus, we hated getting manuscripts from PhDs. I know people with PhDs who are excellent writers and respect deadlines. But they weren't the ones who submitted papers to us. SO BAD. SO SO BAD.

I love my double spaces.

waves Hi! I haven't felt very social lately, but I have been reading along. Hugs, ~ma, and yays! for all who needs them.