Are you a "two spacer"?

I am a two spacer too.  I won't stop either.

I was taught in typing class to use 2 spaces.  Right or wrong, I just think it looks better.

From a HTML coding perspective, two spaces adds to code bloat as to generate that extra space requires the addition of

  (non-breaking space). HTML only recognizes one space between elements.

In typing class, this is what I was taught.  I continue to use two spaces, with the exception of books I am working on at the moment.  One publisher wants single spaces (as in keying in rather than typing), so I comply since I want them to publish my work.  But the other publisher isn't as picky when it comes to that, for reasons of their own (kind of like footnotes vs. endnotes).

A good question.  I was born and bred a two-spacer, learning to type at an early age on whatever old Remington or Royal, etc., we had in the house.  A few years ago I heard that the practice isn't necessarily correct, so I worked to become flexible with it.  Now I find I change instinctively, depending on where I'm typing, who I'm typing to, and the overall look (type of document, the font, etc.). 

Before responding, I had to go back to a couple of posts in different threads to see what I've been doing here!  Looks like two, even though there's no reason for it.  But I'll bet I'm not consistent with it, either.

That article failed to convince me that 2-spacers are wrong.  I hate that HTML removes extra spaces that I type online.

Ihavedecidedtobecomea"nospacer".

I’m probably a little older than most of you and of course I was taught to use two spaces. While in school this had the tangible benefit of using up more page area for those pesky page specific assignments.   

I have found that now with the advent of Word Processors and laser printers that I’m a one spacer. I think it looks good and is acceptable.

Times change gentlemen and so do styles; two spacing is a thing of the past.  

It's not so much that it removes them, it just ignores them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun 

That article failed to convince me that 2-spacers are wrong.  I hate that HTML removes extra spaces that I type online.

And thank goodness that Word has a find and replace that can change all 'two spaces' to 'one spaces' globally, especially when you have some documents that are around 1300 pages in length.

I also am a two-spacer, despite being told repeatedly that one is now correct.   Sometimes I throw in three just to really piss them off.

I strangely    find myself countingthe     spaces in   this thread.   :)

Jay

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun 

That article failed to convince me that 2-spacers are wrong.  I hate that HTML removes extra spaces that I type online.

I'm a 2 spacer and that article has got me thinking about it.  I learned to type on a manual typewriter and was taught 2 spaces.  But it's a valid point that with proportional typefaces, 2 spaces may no longer be necessary.  He wrote the article with single spaces and it didn't bother me.

I guess I'm going to have to start paying to attention to what I read online to see how widespread the single space phenomenon is.

I also learned two space in high school typing class. Did it up through college in the 90s and then went to a basic design seminar, I think about newsletters or something, where the presenter basically said don't do two spaces. I don't quite remember his reasons, but I've been doing single spaces for over a decade now. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Angell 

I'm a 2 spacer and that article has got me thinking about it.  I learned to type on a manual typewriter and was taught 2 spaces.  But it's a valid point that with proportional typefaces, 2 spaces may no longer be necessary.

If you look at virtually all professionally-typeset books and magazines, they use a single space. Two spaces create easily seen "holes" on the page.

I also learned two spaces on a typewriter, but gladly switched to single spaces on computers (don't recall when exactly, but way back).

And yes, HTML compresses all contiguous whitespace (which include tabs, carriage returns, and line feeds) into a single space:

You can type

 your  paragraph like

this

and it's all "smoothed out" for you. (The WYSIWYG editor here inserts   as appropriate to preserve the formatting.)

i do 2-spaces.  but then i usually don't capitalize either.  so two-spacing, in a way, further emphasizes the separation of sentences for me.  there was a thread on this subject in this forum a while back.

I'm a 2 spacer.  The only time I don't use two spaces is when texting.

I'm a two-spacer.  Yep.  I'm old.

Two spaces.  Reading that Slate article with the single-spaces, seemed "wrong", now that my attention was drawn to it. 

Taking a quick flip through Newsweek, which I was reading earlier, suggests that while they may not rigidly two-space, they try to "allocate" more space after full-stops (periods) when space is available, which is probably pretty common when justifying relatively narrow columns of text -- indeed, sometimes there is plenty of extra space and gaps between words are several spaces wide.

Sounds like what you're describing in Newsweek is (full) justification.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justification_(typesetting)

This is also interesting: http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/OtherArticles/JustifyNot.htm

I especially like the author's claim that, "typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong," followed by: "What galls me about two-spacers isn't just their numbers. It's their certainty that they're right."

I'm a "two-spacer," and I don't generally give a good GD what Slate has to say anyway.

Is it really about what's right/wrong as opposed to what was taught a few years ago vs. what's taught now?  People sure do get worked up about the darndest things.  I remember a quite vociferous debate in this space a few years ago about the use of the Oxford comma.  Now THAT was fun! 

I'm a two-spacer (to my wife's consternation).  I could try to break myself of the habit...but why?  Who am I hurting?   I also like rotary dial telephones. 

For some reason, I have been fairly successful in reminding myself to single space after a colon.  Don't know why.  It just is.

The documentary Helvetica showed that typographers and especially type designers are on a whole other plane of existence. It's kind of understandable since their job is to be concerned about the minutest of details, but it still kind of blows your mind when you see what they're doing on a daily basis.

Quote:

People sure do get worked up about the darndest things.  I remember a quite vociferous debate in this space a few years ago about the use of the Oxford comma.  Now THAT was fun! 

Looks like we're not going to have a one-space society until a bunch of geezers kick the bucket. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon 

Is it really about what's right/wrong as opposed to what was taught a few years ago vs. what's taught now?

No, it's a moral issue. Just because you were taught the Earth was flat back when you were in school doesn't mean we don't know better today. So it is with this double-space nonsense. If we can't cast off these old beliefs, how will we advance as a nation?

I'm siding with John Scalzi, current president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/01/14/farhad-manjoo-is-right-and-i-will-go-to-this-barricade-with-him/

Monospace font, two spaces after punctuation, with a proportional font one space is used. As far as I know, as long as proportional fonts have been around, this has always been the proper way to do it. The reason we were taught two spaces in typing class is because those typewriters used monospace lettering (I am 46 so I had those classes in my younger days myself).

Using two spaces after punctuation with a proportional font you end up what is sometimes called "rivers of white" on the page. Justification settings also cause this effect. Basically, while looking at the page, you can see a white "river" going down the page formed by the extra gaps.

However, it seems silly to me to criticize people that are not professional typographers/designers for not following professional standards especially in personal correspondence. The guy has basically written an over the top "link bait" style article. No sane person really cares about the number of spaces you are using.

-Keith

Thankfully, I've always used one space after a period. I'd hate to think I was partially responsible for us not advancing as a nation!

Oh, what the hey. I'm going to two spaces after this one.  Now I feel a little bit naughty!

Yet another two minutes shot to hell.

I learned two spaces when I learned to type and I still do it.  It's easier to read a paragraph when the sentences are broken up by two spaces.  There should be a difference between the delineation after a comma or semicolon in the middle of a sentence and a sentence proper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Plucker 

However, it seems silly to me to criticize people that are not professional typographers/designers for not following professional standards especially in personal correspondence. The guy has basically written an over the top "link bait" style article. No sane person really cares about the number of spaces you are using.

 

-Keith

Agreed 100%