This is a sentence ending with one space. This is a sentence ending with
two spaces. My email client is supposedly using a proportional,
variable width font, and the typical smaller width used for a space
character tends to make sentences merge together visually when only a
single space is used. Two spaces make the end of a sentence more
apparent visually, especially since with many fonts a "period" is almost
indistinguishable from a speck of dirt on the screen. The improved
visual separation with two spaces is even greater on typical browser fonts.
I personally think the argument for a single space at end of sentence is
BS, made up out of laziness by someone who has not yet needed reading
glasses. Setting off sentences with extra space was a long-established
practice with good handwriting, not something that originated because
typewriters had imprecise spacing.
Yes, a single space at end of sentence may now be acceptable, but it is
aesthetically inferior.
JC Ewing
On 2/28/20 5:38 AM, Joe Monk wrote:
The rule now is 1 space after a period.
Two spaces after a period was the rule on a typewriter, because the fonts
weren't proportional, they were monospace. This led to uneven spacing of
words on paper, so two spaces was the rule.
Nowadays, on a computer, the fonts are proportional. For instance on a
typewriter, the characters i and a take the same amount of space. But on a
word processor, i and a dont take the same amount of space. Thus, no need
for two spaces.
This is a monospace font.
This is a proportional font.
Joe
On Thu, Feb 27, 2020 at 2:59 PM Paul Gilmartin <
[email protected]> wrote:
On Thu, 27 Feb 2020 15:48:44 -0500, Steve Smith wrote:
Thanks for another reminder I'm "really old" :-). The rule, btw, is two
spaces at the end of a sentence. And I think it makes at least as much
sense for proportional fonts as mono. You can (and I do) have Word check
to make sure they're always there...
Specifically, not after titles: "Ms. Smith", "Dr. Jones:. Also bad
places for
automatic linebreaks.
-- gil
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