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[MikeHattsu]

Nah. Single space.

 

[Monty Mole]

I do. That's how I was brought up.

The rest of you were dragged up.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

iusedtodoublespacebecausethatshowiwastaughtanditmademypaperslongerbutovertheyearstheinternethasruinedmeandistoppeddoingit.
nowimsolazyidontevenbotherwithspacing.

You've got a typo, there's a space... and it's misplaced
Although i did think it was a German word or that Welsh station name at first

I was taught to double space for legibility in the 80s when typing but i haven't bothered for years. Yay, my laziness has made me cool!

 

[big_z]

You've got a typo, there's a space... and it's misplaced
Although i did think it was a German word or that Welsh station name at first

I was taught to double space for legibility in the 80s when typing but i haven't bothered for years. Yay, my laziness has made me cool!

neogaf forces its own space in there after so many characters. its all one string when editing it.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

neogaf forces its own space in there after so many characters. its all one string when editing it.

Well, well, well, So it does. Everyday a school day

 

[Seanspeed]

Yes I do. Been a habit and I don't think its something worth the effort of trying to change.

 

[nOoblet16]

I was talking with my fiancee since we're preparing for our wedding and I've been charged with editing our website. She was looking over it, when she started pointing out that I had too many spaces after each sentence. I kinda gave her a WTF look, as I had been taught growing up typing that you double space after a period. Apparently, this isn't a hard and fast rule as a quick search of wikipedia taught me and it kinda was a shock to me, since I type pretty quickly and double spacing is second nature to me.

So tell me GAF, am I in the wrong? Are we not supposed to double space after a period or end of a sentence?

Look at your quote and notice how GAF changes it to single spaced sentences.
Yup, your technique is wrong here, double spacing is an informal way of writing.

 

[MattKeil]

Word processors space properly after a period with only a single space. It's been that way for almost 20 years now. Double spacing after a period is a holdover from typewriters that has been made obsolete now. It was used for the sake of legibility and clarity on typewritten documents, but there's literally no reason to do it on a computer, ever, and most word processing programs and even forum software correct double spacing automatically, so it's an extra press of the space bar for absolutely nothing. Your PC is not a typewriter.

 

[Rawket Lawnchair]

Word 2000 taught me the right way to type. Single space after every period.

 

[pottuvoi]

You were taught archaic methods.

Indeed, it's like teaching imperial or US customary units outside of history classes.

 

[ag-my001]

I've heard rumors that some companies will look for double spaces in typed resumes to help determine the general age of the applicant, but as we can see from this thread, it's an imperfect approach depending on who the typing style was learned from.

I always double space.

 

[Oppo]

Perhaps fonts made for s word processor should factor in generations of editing practice. There are a huge chunk of us taught a certain way. It's force of habit at this point, and frankly, double spacing still looks better to my eye no matter what font I use. Trebuchet and Calibri for the most part. PEACE.

hey, I was taught keyboarding by whiskered nuns who used to nail you with a ruler if you were caught looking down at your hands. And I adapted.

as mentioned, doing any script/HTML stuff teaches you real quick.

 

[Rollo Tomasi]

When I first learned how to type back in 7th grade we were taught to use two spaces after a period. Since then I've learned that there isn't any rule that says you really have to to this. At this point its ingrained behavior so I still do it.

 

[ElectricKaibutsu]

I was taught to and did it for years. I heard that it's not really supposed to be done anymore so I just do a single space now.

 

[obin_gam]

The teachers who teaches anyone to double space should be fired for such lunacy.

 

[Shake Appeal]

The only time it is acceptable to use two spaces is when using a fixed-width typeface (which includes writing on a typewriter).

There is no other excuse.

 

[xam3l]

I lol'd with the content of this theard, I was expecting some sort of relationship/sex advice.

 

[Stuggernaut]

I do. It is what was taught to me all through elementary and high school (Canada if that matters).

I know it is no longer done that way but it's so engrained it's a harx habbit to break.

Just noticed I did it in this post without even thinking... Heh!
8

 

[Cybrwzrd]

Single spaced because word processers unlike manual typewriters properly kern your fonts. It is only acceptable to double space when using a font that has no kerning.

 

[Parch]

Do you double space hand written letters?
Do young people even write letters anymore, you know, with a pen?

 

[rpmurphy]

If double spaces are a sin, then I'll just write one sentence per paragraph.

Come at me.

Fight the system!

 

[massoluk]

Old habits die hard. I keep telling my bosses double space are no longer need in computer age. The manager pointed out to official letters from some US government agency using double spaces.

Fuck you, dinosaur age US government agency, I almost had him convinced.

 

[Lothar]

I always use double space. I've heard that it's not the right way to do it, but I still do it anyway out of habit.

 

[Shy Fingers]

Was taught double space and now it is just something I always do without even thinking about it. If it is incorrect and computers fix it for me, then I see no need to change it up.

 

[massoluk]

Yes, basically. I still do it though, even if I'm writing stuff for the web. It's just habit and it's how I was taught growing up. I'm 34.

I'm 32, I was taught that in typewriting class, the year after they get rid of all the archaic typewrtiers for a computer lab

Third fastest "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" record in the class, yo.

 

[MikeyB]

Taught to double-space after full-stop in the 1980s on an electric typewriter. I broke the habit in 2003. Everything I've written since has looked better.

 

[onadesertedisland]

Relics of typewriters and monospace typefaces. Modern typefaces place enough space after a period. No extra space is necessary.

 

[UpperCaseN]

In middle school my English teacher taught us to do it this way, she actually made an example of me when I submitted a paper with single spaces. I did double spacing all the way up till college when we had a group project, where every person took a chunk of the writing and we combined it all into 1. 2 of us had double spaces and 3 people were like wtf. I can't remember which way we decided on but I looked it up after and found out that double spacing was meant for typewriter days and isn't really necessary anymore. I'm a little bitter towards that English teacher since she made a big deal about it and singled me out specifically.

 

[jblank83]

Double space on typewriters.
Single space on computers.

Double space is a left over from the old days. It's incorrect on computers.

Too lazy to go find you a link. NM, someone already did it for me:
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html

 

[Aeriscloud]

Word 2000 taught me the right way to type. Single space after every period.

Word 2000 lied.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I don't but I know people who do

 

[Redd]

I just don't understand why my 7th grade computer teacher lied to me. I'll double space no longer.

 

[massoluk]

To be fair, the first computer printer we have at our home was dot matrix printer and the first word processing programs don't really have automated line spacing yet, so double spacing before comma continued for a bit. So may be that's why some old timer during the transitional phase misunderstood.

 

[Rawket Lawnchair]

Word 2000 lied.

Well mate, at least you're not one of those people who leave an extra space before a period . <==like this.

 

[The Lamonster]

I've always double-spaced. It just looks better.

 

[IAmtheFMan]

So I've been trying all day to break this habit. It's really friggin' hard.

 

[Fnord]

Double spacing after a period is great advice for 1972!

Obviously trust the formatting of computer word processing software? Duh? I bet my dad's copy of WordPerfect in the late 80s had already handled this issue.

And you would be correct. Well, honestly, I can't speak directly to WordPerfect at the time, but the word processors I was using had already accounted for it. I'm actually shocked that the double space is still being taught. I was in high school in the late 80s and had already learned that proportional typefaces didn't need or call for a double space. I thought, for sure, that this information would have propagated throughout academia by now.

 

[Ryde3]

Never heard of this, seems wrong.

 

[FTF]

Yes. Yes I do.

It's just how I learned in school and has stuck with me since.

 

[Reeks]

It looks better. I was also taught to do this.

 

[Zoe]

Double spacer here. I've known since the 90's that HTML strips extra spaces, but I don't give a damn.

 

[Akuun]

I was taught it when I was a kid, but then was weaned off of it when I became a tech writer.

The reasoning is that modern computer text automatically formats spaces after periods slightly bigger than normal spaces anyway, so manually double-spacing after a period is no longer needed.

 

[Thrak360]

I double space to this day. Carry-over from learning on a manual typewriter in the '70s.

 

[Slermy]

In elementary school and middle school in the 90s, I was taught to use double spaces after punctuation. By the time I was in college in the mid-2000s, that rule had been changed, and we were only supposed to use one space after punctuation. I believe that that is now the accepted rule.

For those who use (or were taught to use) two spaces, during what years did you learn to type?

Mid-Nineties.

 

[Raptomex]

I've never done this but I've recently been told this is the "proper" way. Wtf? Not once in school do I ever remember being taught to double space after a period. Now I'm just annoyed whenever I see it.

 

[Boudica]

What are we Neanderthals? Of course not.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I double-space, yes. Learned to type on a typewriter where it is the only acceptable way to space, you heathens. This doesn't work by default in most WISYWIG HTML editors, though.

 

[theechrisfox]

I've been trying to break the habit of double spacing after a sentence. The double space is pretty much engrained in my muscle memory while typing.

 

[Rest]

I get that double spacing after a period is a carry over from pre-computer days.I also get that word-processors single space automatically.What I don't get is why we're doing any spaces at all.The period is already an indicator of the end of a sentence, and the following capital letter just reinforces that.There's just no reason to add another keystroke to do essentially the same thing.My stance is that double spacers are just following tradition, and single spacers are just doing a half-assed job of rebelling against the tradition.Follow me to the glorious world of the no spacers!

www.neogaf.com is one datum. Leaving out a space communicates something different than the end of a sentence

Spoiler

, in case anyone took you seriously.

 

[Freakinchair]

I was taught in school to always use double spaces after a period. It just looks better and is more obvious than a single space. I'll never be able to break the habit either as I've been doing it like this too long. Kids these days... always trying to skip steps.