Since the iPhone will automatically do a period and a single space if you hit the space bar twice, I’ve kind of been forced into 1. But I grew up with 2 and that still feels right to me.
I find the extra space makes it easier to recognize the break between sentences. I don’t understand why it was changed to single space after more than a century of being two spaces.
Ooh I know this one. It’s because of how typewriters were engineered. They used monospaced fonts meaning each letter and punctuation took up the same amount of horizontal space. Unfortunately this made it hard to see where sentences end. So, the best practice among typists became “hit the space key twice after a period” and let’s make the best of limited technology. Now, modern writing tools use proportional fonts rather than monospaced, so that problem of uneven spaces between words and after a period is no longer an issue because the characters are automatically adjusted for readability. As a result the double space after a period looks odd relative to the rest of the document.
Yeah, but.... The keyboard you are likely using is QWERTY - which was intentionally designed to be inefficient to prevent mechanical keyboard jams. Have you adopted Colemak yet? In for a penny, in for a pound.
I disagree with your last point. I think it still looks better with two spaces.
1) there are both monotype and non monotype fonts in current, modern word processing software.
2) personally, I still like 2 spaces as it better indicates the pause a period signifies.
I’m with you. It’s the same reason I like an Oxford comma. While that last comma might be avoided jn many cases without ambiguity, the last comma still signifies a pause, which is certainly helpful when reading a long list. You can insert the implied pause from context, but it’s always easier to not have to do so.
I use punctuation very well thank you, including the oxford comma and even the semicolon where kids today would mistakenly drop commas. But I've moved on from the two space malarkey.
Nope. I love punctuation and don't double space my sentences. That's what the fucking period is for. See? You all knew my statement ended and didn't need your redundant space to figure it out. Born in the early 80s, by the way.
I like OC but I don’t like double spaces. They’re archaic and were only incorporated because of technological limitations. Totally unnecessary. The OC has a purpose.
I’ve never done either double spacing or Oxford commas. My mum was a legal secretary back in the day and was the one who taught me how to touch type at age 12 when we got our first computer. She never mentioned anything about double spacing, and she learned how to type in the late ‘70s before electronic typewriters were a thing. I’ll have to ask her about whether she used to double space back in the day.
As for Oxford commas, they’re not used as a standard form of punctuation in Standard Australian English. They’re only used when required to remove ambiguity or when items in a list are complex. I had no idea what they even were when I started seeing debates about their use amongst (mainly) Americans online. I now find myself using them a lot on reddit subs where most of the audience are from the US, just because I know how it’s how the majority of the audience reading what I’m typing have been trained to write (and thus read) and understand lists. It still makes my brain hurt, though.
The Oxford comma was (largely) eliminated in newspaper style books (eg, AP style) to save space and ink in yon olden days. It doesn’t really matter in digital contexts, but the convention remains.
I personally feel that two spaces is unnecessary and kinda looks dumb, but I will absolutely die on this hill that the Oxford comma is essential and should always be used. I will never understand why that went out the wayside.
I'm 51. This is the first year I stopped putting 2 spaces after a period because my high school and college students were freaking out. They all see any punctuation (especially periods and ellipses) as "aggressive." They still have to use punctuation, in my English and Composition classes, anyway... 😈
As a staunch supporter of the Oxford comma, I disagree. Many publishers (especially online) abandoned the double space a long time ago. People aren't losing meaning there in the same way they do with poor comma usage.
The best “case” I can make for it is that it makes the break in sentences a tiny bit more noticeable. When reading, we often time (or budget) our breathing to coincide with sentences ending. It’d be less important if we didn’t also use the period for abbreviations, decimal numbers, and ellipses.
Oxford comma is a necessity. However, I’m ambivalent about the double space—as long as the writer is consistent in their use, I don’t really notice it. Just commit to using one or two spaces throughout your document! No switching back and forth!
If you blur your eyes a little you can see little patterns with the negative space from the double spaces at sentence breaks. Thanks for the reminder, totally works with your comment.
Core memory unlocked. Long lice the double space.
Oh, I’m in an iPhone. Ease of double tap space bar at the end of sentence has made me a hypocrite.
It’s not really a matter of preference as much as going back to following standard typesetting practice as it’s been established for centuries. Monospaced typewriter text made for a dark era of typography that we’re just now getting out of. Look at the decline in use of punctuation that isn’t found on a typewriter keyboard, with all the philistines who can’t imagine that a human would ever use an em dash.
…: a lot of fonts have the kerning too tight or too loose for repeated periods, and in those cases, an actual ellipsis can look better.
—: I really miss being able to liberally use em dashes, but now when people see them, they assume you've had AI write the comment for you. ChatGPT really, really loves em dashes.
Just for that, I'm going to start a revolution and change which punctuation is used where. An apostrophe for a contraction? Absurd! You'll now use a colon. Questions will be identified with a question mark no longer. In their place will be double end quotation marks.
I think the two spaces look heinous and don’t contribute to readability. It’s also aesthetically and in terms of readability not what the font designers intended.
If I’m reading a document with 2 spaces it’s like reading something riddled with typos. Every single time I see it is a distraction from whatever I’m trying to read.
Let’s just use our fonts the way they were designed to be used and to appear. I think using the double spaced period in the digital age is equivalent to not using it in the analog age—just wrong.
I will always use my Oxford Comma though because that’s timeless and a matter of style. Meanwhile, the double spaced period is the literary equivalent of socks with sandals. You can do it, but it looks very bad and is not how either was designed to be used.
There are still some legitimate use cases for monospaced fonts. I use Courier New in many of the technical documents I write for work. When working with people where English isn't their first language (and sometimes not their second or even third language), the last thing I need is a font making the language barrier worse.
It doesnt look odd, it makes it easy to quickly scan a paragraph and separate the sentences. It helps you process the text faster visually. There is function to it now regardless of why it began.
It’s distracting and looks like a series of typos in your text. You can see at a glance that it sticks out and looks wrong. It does not help you process the text faster visually. There is no support for that idea in the digital age. It was only necessary with typewriters.
The study picked one of the very few monospaced fonts (Courier) that still exist in the digital sphere, so the results don’t really move beyond the logic used for typewriters. Even then the results do not impress. I think the study actually supports the argument that even when it was relevant to use DSP it was still a waste of time for a negligible bump in reading speed and that it actually harmed overall reading comprehension.
If you use a monospaced font there is a 3% bump in reading speed for those people who type with two spaces but there is a 3.9% decrease in reading comprehension for those who use DSP in their typing when reading a DSP text.
Those of us who type with one space gain approximately a 1% boost to reading speed and a 0.5% boost in reading comprehension when reading a monospaced font.
None of this tells us anything about what happens with proportional fonts (those being the vast majority of what we read every day). In the absence of any research that shows that reading is improved in any way by using DSP in proportional fonts I’m going to continue to side with the typesetters and graphic designers (and anyone who actually cares about how text looks) who will tell you that DSP looks like shit when used with proportional fonts.
“Monospace isn’t for everyone. Talk to your doctor about Monospace if you have too much space after your periods, to see if it’s the right solution for you.”
From a purely numerical perspective, a variable width font makes it harder - not easier - to see the end of a sentence. With a variable width period being literally one of the narrowest characters, the space between sentences blends more into the blur of gaps between words. The period adds far less space ending a sentence than it used to as a mono-spaced character.
Basically, the argument provided doesn't actually make any sense, even though it is the argument that is typical of the subject.
Thank you so much for this random information. Now I can bring it up now whenever double spaces ever get mentioned and I'll look like the smartest person in the room for at least a few minutes.
But it seems like there was a decent stretch of time where computer typing had become the default, and double space was still standard. Like when I was learning to type in computer lab in the 90s we were taught to double space.
It was so pounded into my head by my typing teacher in middle school that it's basically involuntarily now. We didn't pass the assignment if we single spaced. I still prefer how it looks personally.
Ahh, the memories of typing class. That teacher who wants to be anywhere but here, monontoning, "a-a-a- space s-s-s space d-d-d space." Good times.
I am a fan of the double space after a period and I continue to use it. But even when I want to do single spaces (like co-writing with a peer who uses single spaces), I physically cannot undo the reflex that is the "period space space" typing motion. I don't mean for it to be a "back in my day..." moment, I just cannot overcome how ingrained the double space is in my typing schema.
Yes, I've always assumed it was because our computer lab teachers had learned on typewriters. But that's just a guess.
Personally I'd consider single space for official submissions, but mostly I'll just do what comes naturally. Everyone I email has seen me and knows I'm not a kid anyway.
Yes, because old people historically have a habit of not accepting change readily. I’m starting to see it in this sub, we’ve been having a decent amount of complaints amounting to “things aren’t the same as when I was a kid.” It’s no surprise, every generation has done it, I just wish there was more self-awareness here rather than it devolving into another Facebook.
I assumed publishers calculated that the extra space from each sentence would save like $10K per year in printing costs due to the accumulation of unused spaces and therefore longer publications.
My working theory on this is because of how HTML is rendered in browsers. Back in ye olden days, when one could write a website's HTML entirely in Notepad, whitespaces characters were used for formatting as well as code indentation. Browser engines of that era would treat a single whitespace as a formatting space, and so, you would visually see that in the rendered output as a space between words, after punctuation, etc. But if there were two or more spaces, the browser engine would only render a single space, and this was because one would use those extra spaces (and TABs) to indent HTML tags for readability.
If you wanted more than one space to be rendered, you had to throw in a non-breaking space entity, (char code 0xA0 in the extended ASCII set, U+00AO in Unicode, and ALT+0160 in Windows' numeric keypad). Hence why back in the days, if you looked at the page source of a given site, you'd sometimes see long lines of throughout the code; usually this was used as a hack to force a specific formatting, before people better learned CSS to do the same task.
I think that because of this really tiny nuance back then, children and young adults who grew up in that era got used to seeing only a single space after punctuation, even if there were two or more, and they adopted this in their writing styles. By the time professional writing organizations figured this out, it was effectively too late to change this now-ingrained behavior, so there's been a push to get people to just stick to using a single space after punctuation, and it'll be up to rendering engines to add any needed graphical enhancements to make distinguishing between sentences easier.
That said, as someone who grew up doing two spaces after punctuation, that's what I continue to to do, and will continue to do, until those two spaces are pried from my cold, dead (or undead) hands. And yes, this entire post has two spaces between each sentence, though it may not be possible to observe it, as I don't know if Reddit strips extra spaces out or not (since in its Markdown mode, two spaces at the end of a paragraph is regarded as a break between paragraphs). If someone wants to check the underlying code in an inspector, that'll reveal if it preserved my two-spaces between sentences, but the rendered output will likely carry only a single space (this can vary between browsers and platforms).
I stick with two spaces because its easier to read and I dont give asf what anybody else says about it being antiquated. Why do things that reduce efficiency in use that take so little effort?
Part of my job is to edit my colleagues' writing and my efficiency is reduced when they put two spaces after everything, because I have to manually delete them all.
Same. I also blind read submissions and when I see two spaces, I immediately know I’m reading someone older than 40. (I’m also older than 40 and adapted to one space, so it’s possible.)
I work on documents that several people write and edit. I figured out a while ago that, while I was adding two spaces after the period, other people weren’t. If I kept adding two spaces, someone had to go in and remove them, so I stopped.
I appreciate that so much! I was taught to type with two spaces in 1994. But it actually wasn't hard to switch. One space is the modern professional standard, regardless of our personal opinions.
Because of the move from typewriters to word processors. They automatically adjust spacing and adding 2 spaces creates weird rivers of white space and more work for typographers.
I'm not gonna lie. I've been in Reddit heaven with all of these double-checked comments with proper punctuation, spelling, and formatting in this thread. I wish it didn't, but it bothers me when people have all these tools to get their grammatical shit together and purposely ignore them to save a few nanoseconds of time.
More familiar to whom? The double space after a period didn’t exist before print. It was a hack for machines that couldn’t express the nuance of written words that predates it for centuries.
Before print, the visual form of writing was an art form and mode of self-expression in and of itself beyond the words. People could pick up on the subtle cues of variable-width spacing without needing the extra space after a period to denote a stop. The ability to detect that nuance was lost for the Boomers and Gen X. But modern font designers have been able to reintroduce that nuance, where the fonts themselves become a form of self-expression.
That’s why there are countless studies showing that younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials) place a much higher premium on font choice as a form of self-expression and online identity compared to Boomers and Gen X. Doing away with the double space after the period is actually a return to tradition, with younger generations more in tune with the nuances of text and expression than older generations who have lost the ability naturally detect those subtle visual cues.
I absolutely agree about the rivers of white space. I’ve always been a strong reader, but those rivers were all I could see - one space feels so much smoother and less taxing.
(I recognize and accept that I’m probably in the minority among my fellow xennials. LOL.)
I had typing class in high school that taught two spaces after a period. But I easily shifted to single space once I started using a word processor. I am not beholden to old stuff.
There is a whole art around maximizing readigg by comfort, with optimal line width, fonts, spaces between lines and a lot of other things designed to reduce eye fatigue.
Published novels (ones by established publishers) adhere to these things most. Even the slightly off-white page does it.
12 pt type in times new Roman, 2 spaces after the period, with 1 inch margins on a letter size page and double spaced lines might feel right to those who had it drilled into them by English teachers, but typographically it’s terrible, and will greatly contribute to eye fatigue. It’s why you will never see a professionally done novel released with even one of those things.
My brain adapted. Now instead of typing period space space I just hit space twice at the end of the sentence. In my head that still counts as “two spaces at the end of the sentence. “
That was to accommodate the fact that all typewritten letters of the alphabet had the same width, so it would be hard to differentiate sentences without the double space. Now they’re all proportional(?) so a double space has literally been rendered unnecessary.
I was the opposite; I had a hard time at first but then I’d see the double space and it looked so weird. I got out of the habit because single space looks right/normal to me.
i know in my bones that there was a time i hit two spaces. And I like im sure many of us, never wrote anything (other than messing around) on a typewriter. But somewhere along the way the second space stopped happening. I have no idea when. and that bothers me.
Yeah. Word tries to hard to be helpful by making too many decisions for you. It can be willed into submission, but it takes so much work to get it there.
I always hated Word, and will use anything else but that. Word for DOS is why I learned WordPerfect 5.1 with all its three-key shortcuts, it was still better than the suckage that is Word.
I’ve never liked a version of Word past 5.1a. Was just a basic word processor, did what you told it to do.
But I suppose after creating a good app and selling it ouright to a user, you cankt just leave it at that. Need to keep adding on bells and whistles so you can forever charge the customers.
I wish Word had something like Reveal Codes. But I don't recall it having definable styles.
But man, those function key combos. Let's see... from memory: Ctrl-F2 for spell check, Alt-F7 to exit, F11 for reveal codes, and F12 to show the menu bar? How'd I do?
This is how it ought to be. Manually adding returns was necessary because it was the only way to add that visual space. Software does it automatically now, and it can be fine tuned to preferences.
As someone who typesets for a living, a huge no to this. Most modern software has built-in spacing after paragraphs and it should be used rather than inserting empty characters. It's always an annoying extra step to remove all those returns when I'm creating a document.
Right? It's frustrating that people assume I'm a bot -- or otherwise that I'm using AI -- just because I take an extra moment to format what I've written in order to make it easier to read. I have years of long-winded drivel!
:-) in seriousness, I was simply wrong. I thought spacing around em dashes was a US vs UK thing, but AP style favors spaces. Other style and typography guides disagree.
Huh. In an effort to use less parantheticals, I was doing “ - “ (space-dash-space). I need to review the AP guidelines. It’s been too long since I’ve been graded on my writing 😆
You don’t have to do anything special—iPhones automatically replace double hyphens with em dashes and so do Microsoft office products. Now, using en-dashes, that would be pretentious!
I get what you are saying though. I write excellent, learned, American English. Especially if I’m using a conscientiously unbiased and emotionally positive “customer service” tone of voice, I start to sound like AI. Off topic: it does kindof suck. I have a STEM background but my career is built on “writes better than most STEM people”
Being able to communicate better than most STEM people is a huge advantage though. Especially as you get older and find that companies don’t want to hire you for hands-on tech roles as much, you can easily leverage that into a lead or management role.
When I edit academic writing, I frequently have to correct hyphens that should be en dashes. Ctrl + - (on a number pad) makes quick work of it. I love Google Docs because it makes hyphen/en dash/em dash even easier: One - is a hyphen, two - becomes an en dash, and three - becomes an en dash. Editorial joy!
Nothing I write or review goes in front of an audience that cares about that level of finesse which is good because I know how to do special characters in MacOS and in LaTeX but can never remember the windows/word shortcuts.
I do try to put non-breaking spaces between numbers and units though. Reading 21
cm is a typographical pet peeve
Autocorrect has formatted em dashes for years now. Character - space - dash - space - character becomes an em dash in Word and a few other word processors. And I think its on by default.
That’s not always true. A semicolon can link two independent clauses or separate items in a list of the items themselves include commas; however, a semicolon can’t punctuate an aside—like this one—like em dashes.
Eh, I wouldn’t call it bad English-ing, just different English-ing. A conversational tone is sometimes welcome, even in academic venues (including the academic journal I manage).
I actually prefer the em dash to parentheses. To me, parentheses means it's not important and I can skip over it. I don't want people skipping over my writing, damn it!
And specifically learned from public domain material which tends to be older writing styles.
Yes I know AI also sources training material unethically, but it’s probably weighted to issue results closer to what is similar to public domain material on purpose. Thus… m dashes.
Thank you. I hate that em-dashes are often a dead giveaway that something is likely written by A.I., especially since I’ve naturally used them for years and now have to intentionally remove them just to look more authentic.
My friends used to make fun of me for how frequently I would find an excuse for one before AI was a thing - I'll just point to them if I get accused of using it.
Folks frequently interpret periods at the end of sentences as being angry/cross/aggressive with text messages, so I'll omit them in stuff like texts or various messenger apps. In all other applications, however, I'll just use regular ol' proper grammar and punctuation.
I’m almost 50 and lazy AF. When I found out as a kid that the Oxford comma was optional I dropped it like a glass of red wine on a white carpet (🤷🏻♂️). I don’t have to make one extra movement when typing? Hell yeah.
I'm 48, and I had a typing class in school, but double spaces were *never* a thing. In fact, far less so in equal-space typewriter fonts than some dynamic fonts on the PC.
I'm an author and I can't deprogram myself of it. I've been doing it since learning on IBM Selectrics. So I'll write my novels and when I'm finished with my final rewrites, the first thing I do is run a find and replace and turn all my double-spaces into singles.
Similar story for me, but it was about 20 years ago that I switched to 1 space.
I did (and still do) a lot of writing and copy editing. The company I work for occasionally publishes articles written by management. First thing I do whenever I get the copy is to run a “replace all” to convert two spaces to one space.
They give me shit over it, but they’re trying to reach a younger demographic than themselves so I repeatedly tell them it makes them look really old. They don’t like it, but they concede and approve my edits. But they still include them every time. I think it’s their form of passive aggressive rebellion.
Nope, sorry to break it to you. There was a switch in early 2000’s, and those of us who didn’t go to school during that time period (or write for a living and have it beaten out of us) missed the switch and keep doing it wrong, simple as that.
At work, we have a mix of older and younger professionals. Doing a document review, a younger reviewer commented on the author using double spaces. I had to explain to them that double spaces was ingrained into any of us over 40. I was aware that the official guidance had changed, but another reviewer around my age was not convinced until we looked it up to confirm.
I'm a bit younger and I also learned to type on a mechanical typewriter. My mom had one for work-related stuff and I sometimes used it - that was before we had a computer. I got my first computer, a C64 a bit later but yea,h i didnt start writing on a keyboard.
Exactly. I never used a typewriter, but was still taught that 2 spaces go after a period. I always thought it was because just made sense and looked better, which I agreed with. And you can pry my second space after a period from my cold, dead hands. 😂
Honestly until a certain age you did your work using hand writing, the computer was mostly a reward for fun at school until highschool, although I had a computer at home. I've never used a type writer in my life. But I'm Canadian, so perhaps that accounts for the difference.
I was a Two Spacer until I sent my first novel off for edits. My first edit was going back through the book and making all the double spaces into singles.
Now I only do the Apple shortcut on my phone but everywhere else is singles spaces after periods
Two spaces!!! I just cannot help myself from breaking the IBM Selectric typewriter habits I learned in 1986 typing class. Fuck all you youngins if you have heartburn about this. I just doesn't matter. You cannot hardly even see the difference in documents these days and I think it still helps with readability. FFS.
Oxford comma is a must. Look at all the god damned funny memes about how eliminating it fucks things up royally.
My boss will idly tap Space Bar after he finishes a sentence while he's thinking about how he wants to say the next thing. I normally don't say much but every now and then he'll ask me to review something with obviously large gaps between certain sentences and you can always tell heb either edited it a bunch of times and didn't clean it up or was very particular about how he phrased the next sentence.
I'm surprised at the number of people who still double-space. I (43) also grew up with the double-space but I broke myself of the habit. I type a lot and publish in scholarly journals where the double-space won't fly, though.
Yes, exactly. I'm 42 and I was also surprised when I learned it wasn't correct anymore at my first writing job in my 20s, but it's not. This is simply not a debate for those of us who write or edit for a living.
I'm 43, and I think I stopped using it in college. To the point where whenever this comes up, I am reminded that I was taught two in keyboarding in the '90s.
Same but 45. I stopped this in the late 90s in high school. I feel like I barely did 2 spaces maybe 10 years of my life at most, but we rarely formally typed things back then, only major assignments. Single space has dominated the vast majority of my life.
Two spaces just gives ugly rivers of white & makes the text feel so disjointed. It almost feels like someone is pressing the tab button. It's so close to typing in all caps, and ...using ....many dots...as commas...
Yeah, I’m 44 and grew up with the double space. It was around 20 years ago that I realized from my younger friends that single space was the way to go these days and changed at that point.
I’ll be 42 in a couple months and I completely agree with you. I also grew up learning 2 spaces after a period. I don’t publish in scholarly journals, but I am a graphic designer and the 2 spaces makes my head explode because it looks awful.
It looks tacky and I automatically assume anyone who does it is a boomer. No books, webpages, anything has two spaces after a period. Do you not read? You didn't even put two spaces after "can't" in your own reply. 95% of the people replying that they still use two spaces are actually doing it in these replies.
Ouch, so aggressive! Gen X and at least elder millenials also learned to double-space, thank you very much! Fun fact - there is 2 spaces after 'can't' in my previous comment. Here, too. I don't think you're as good at spotting it as you seem to think.
Though now I am going to have to go and look through all of my books and see if any of them use it and check by age!
I'm 44 and same. Probably 15 years ago, I noticed the change, looked up what the correct way was, and switched. It was tough for a couple of days, but now it's just second nature and double spaces look antiquated.
Honestly, from looking through these replies it seems anyone who didn't go to college, or beyond, still use two spaces. I guarantee none of them do any writing for their professions.
I always hated double spacing after a period so as soon as it was no longer required, I stopped using it. I grew up using AOL chatrooms and IRC. I sure wasn't double spacing in there.
I had totally forgotten double spacing and I'm 47. I don't remember when I stopped or why, but it's easily been over twenty years. I work with more technical writing, so maybe that has something to do with it.
I suppose double spacing is mostly used by people who don’t really write that much (or at least not at work), otherwise someone would’ve corrected them somewhere along the last few decades.
Similar story here. I grew up with it and it was a nice trick to add a little extra length to my papers in school. Sometime in college, can’t remember when, I broke myself of that habit and I no longer do it.
Some people I work with who are older than me still do it though. If I’m working on a collaborative document with one of them and I have the last edit I usually use find/replace to remove the double spaces so it’s consistent throughout. I also think it looks weird with them.
I was cocky about not double spacing and using tabs, unlike the olds - then a millennial told me I’m not supposed to do an extra return between paragraphs. Apparently there is some setting for spacing for after paragraphs. Now I feel like an old.
Same exact thing here. I'm reading this almost confused because I don't even remember when I made the switch to agree with modern format. I'm pretty sure we were still taught double space in my high school keyboarding class.
But when I put 2 spaces, the first letter of the next sentence gets capitalized automatically.
Also, good luck breaking all thos years of muscle memory.
If I type on my phone it’s one space because if you double click the space bar it will automatically put the period and the space. But if I’m writing emails I use two spaces.
Typewriter or Microsoft Word doc? Report writing as a cop for 20 years and I had plenty of supervisors that were picky about report writing. My Kids are still taught for reports in school and typing. Texting is not the same as report writing.
I'm embarrassed by people my age who still think two spaces is correct or that there's any legitimate debate about it. I've been a professional writer and editor for about 15 years, and in my world this is not a question. Two spaces is wrong and I spend a lot of time removing it from things that old people write. Usually, using two spaces goes hand in hand with being a poor writer in other ways.
Using two spaces is unnecessary and, in most cases, grammatically incorrect. It's not a huge deal to use two spaces in informal writing, but you should only be using one space for any formal writing. You also shouldn't be teaching anyone in your life to use two spaces. All the major style guides stipulate that one space is correct, so you could get flagged for that in formal writing.
I might consider it if you weren't so snarky. I'm free? Like punctuation was imprisoning me. If,you're annoyed at my two spaces, you can blame this asshole, I'm considering three.
If I'm writing something meant to be read by humans, it's usually in software that handles the formatting, like a word processor or a web browser. Unless explicitly designed to preserve them, multiple spaces typed into a web app get condensed anyway. So double-spacing after a period is just a waste.
Ooh, good tip. I often help a Gen X friend edit their writing and I didn't know I could ctrl+f for a formatting issue like that! (Clearly not a professional editor or typesetter, just someone who supports good writing...)
Same. And editors younger than me have admitted that they immediately reject submissions with two spaces because they know the writer is “old” and therefore their voice isn’t desirable in a publication.
Fair? Absolutely not. True? Unfortunately yes. Drop the extra space.
I learned to type at school in 1995 and I was taught two spaces and also to use either my left or right thumb to hit the space bar depending on what letters I was typing.
I thought this was a stupid convention so I just ignored it, used my right thumb 100% of the time and when questioned why I’m not double spacing I told the teacher that the software does it properly for me.
Digital fonts also fit letters together (that is, adjust the kerning) more precisely than was possible when setting actual physical type, so one space creates enough of a visual stop. Two spaces were useful when each letter had a bit more space around it.
My 6th grade keyboarding teacher walked around with a yardstick and slapped the back of your seat or the end of the table if we were caught peeking under the keyboard cover. The trauma is everlasting and so is the education. Two spaces are seared into my entire existence.
Getting copy from clients that has two spaces, paragraph tabs, and extra paragraph returns involves a clean up process. Afterward, I can increase the tracking/kerning between the period and first letter if it looks like it needs it, which is less than .1% of the time.
I was taught to leave two spaces in elementary and junior high. By high school, they were telling us it's no longer necessary. I still did it until I was in community college and was copy-editing for the paper. The articles couldn't have that double space between sentences, so I stopped doing it.
Two spaces after a period has nothing to do with a typewriter. it is just more pleasing. Tech people said to stop doing it because it would save on memory, but now they are building huge data centers for the questionably accurate search engines they call AI. So I feel fine about setting my sentences farther apart.
Muscle memory. I do it without knowing and have to backspace. Yes I'm very aware it's unnecessary, but there's fuckall I can do about it, lol. It's ingrained.
when I was in HS we had a teacher who made us do this, my 10th grade keyboarding teacher made us do this, failure to do so resulted in a failed assignment
she actually made us go into Word and turn it off...when you're actually going into the actual software and making your students change the software to fit YOUR narrative, maybe its possible you are wrong
we as students all fucking hated her, which sucks because a good number of us had her husband as our middle school principal and we liked him
No! I will take points off if anyone turns in a paper with only 1 space. The point was to make something easier to read. It let the audience see the upcoming pause in ideas, and helped with comprehension. That typewriter excuses asinine and shows that this person has never used one. They really did not care if you used one space or two as you were typing. The shortening from two spaces to one came when Google and Microsoft realized that if they stole a space from every period, the amalgamation of saved data space was phenomenal, which saved the money in transmitting emails and saving documents online.
I did two spaces for years. Only managed to stop in the past few years. I do take issue with the original screenshot though - there's nothing "freeing" about being told that the way you've been doing something for 40 years is suddenly considered wrong and that you should stop.
The budget's so tight we can't even afford an extra space, I guess!
In typing class, they made me do double spaces. Then in Newspaper, only 4 years later, I learned that the word processor handled the spacing and I unlearned double spacing on the spot. This was 30 years ago and I've never looked back.
One. One space. Two spaces was how my mom typed. Because she was raised on typewriters. I was raised on the Internet where double-spacing seems neurotic and unhinged.
I use two and always will. I’m dyslexic and the double space after a period tells my brain to full stop while reading whereas a single space signals a quick pause.
I am 40 years old, I was in my very early-teens when computers became standard in many homes, I learned to type on my mum's electronic typewriter. I've spent at least 20 years putting 2 spaces after a full stop and I'm not about to stop now.
They can put all the spaces they want after the period, it won't matter. Browsers have been rendering however many spaces in a row as one space since forever. The whole two space thing became moot once web browsers and proportional fonts became a thing, which is to say decades ago. Some people just can't adjust to change.
Also what's funny is I pulled out my laptop to view this source and the non-mobile web version doesn't replace spaces. I just put like 10 spaces between this sentence and the one before it and you won't see them.
Yeah I see that, too. When I go to view source it shows that it's replaced some of the spaces with the HTML code for a space for some reason. Native app doesn't do that when you type into there. It just keeps them as spaces which renders however many spaces as one.
I hate the 2 spaces. And almost always when I review someone’s work that uses 2 spaces they mix and match. Some sentences with 2 and others with 1. Drives me nuts
Why would I change how I space after periods and inconvenience myself after doing it the way I’ve been doing it for years? It doesn’t change the readability of my texts. If it just annoys you, I’ll go ahead and file it under not my fucking problem.
its always and forever will be two spaces. theres a reason that when you hit two spaces it will give you a period and a space on a phone. then its one space, but i typed two. i cant be bothered with changing it depending on what im on. i will always type two spaces
Is it really that big of a deal? Is that extra space really that noticeable? Or is this really just some lame ass generational thing like complaining that young people can’t read cursive?
Getting into web development so early on kind of broke me of the budding habit (talking high school). You can double space all you want in HTML, it's gonna render one.
I switched to one space 10-15 years ago. Took a minute to get used to, but now it’s the way. I am elder xennial and I coauthor documents quite a bit with a younger xennial coworker who double-spaces. While I don’t care that that’s her preference, it does get annoying that one of us will have to edit the other’s spacing for final copy.
Same. I felt like I entered a different universe when I found out you only need a single space. This was around 2012. I was also still indenting new paragraphs until \~2009.
I worked in web design in the late aughts. It was law then to only use one space. Ever since, i have only used one space in all forms of media and it seems antiquated to have two. i obsessively remove all the extra spaces in my coworkers work.
This thread is fascinating because the only person I ever knew who used 2 spaces was my grandma who admittedly was a typist most of her life. I had no idea there were so many people my age who also do this!
It always felt completely unnecessary to me to use more than 1 space like I was breaking some rule or something 🤔
As the extra space helps with making the start of the new sentence. It also helps when people don't capitalize the first letter.
As for "from the typewriter era". While true, it isn't the whole issue. We would have to discuss monospaced fonts. That is fonts where each letter has the same width regardless of space used by the character. Most noticeable in letters "W", "M", "A" vs "l" or "i".
Using two spaces ensures that enough space is present.
As for those who cry about it. Fuck em. 2 spaces 4 life yall.
I'm 56F. I took my first typing class in school when I was 14. So, I've been putting two spaces after a period for over 42 years. It is not a choice anymore. It's simply not possible for me to only type one space after a period.
I also can't look down at the keyboard when typing. It messes me up since we were taught on typewriters that had the letters on the keys painted over with white paint. There was a big poster at the front of the room showing where the keys are (which was rolled up during tests so we couldn't see it).
Just remember, kids -- the generation coming up after you is going to make fun of things you do, too. Luckily, I'm Gen X, and don't really care. I mean, I'll take the time to try to explain to the Little Ones why we do what we do. But, they can listen or not. I don't give a shit.
It’s 1 space you heathens. 😂 Sorry but as a graphic designer, the 2 spaces is an eyesore. Computer fonts are created to be readable with only one space after the period. I was also taught to use 2 waaaaaay back in the day when I had typing class, but it’s been 1 space for over 2 decades now.
I haven’t used 2 spaces since college! I’ve only ever noticed people older than me doing 2 spaces. And if I’m editing copy for them, I remove the 2nd space always 😅
I wasn’t forced to start using two spaces after a sentence until into junior high on word processors because it was, “the proper way to end a sentence in English” per APA or MLA or whatever.
Being neurodivergent, this arbitrary bullshit with no explanation of why or the history behind why this was “the Proper Way” pissed me off that I would take all the point deductions for not having double spacing.
I use the space double-tap much more now that it puts a period in for me.
Placements of commas and other in-sentence punctuation is much more important in communication; “Let’s eat Grandma!” Vs. “Let’s eat, Grandma!”
Definitely don’t do this on your resume if you are at all concerned with age discrimination, it’s known to be an easy way to weed out older applicants.
For most uses it genuinely doesn't. I mean, websites don't render double-spaces without putting some serious effort into it, so all the comments here espousing the importance of the spacing, are being rendered with single-spaces.
also make all the spaces and punctuation marks one font size bigger than the text. also increase margins by one tenth of an inch. also adjust line spacing from 2 to 2.1.
Oh please, rookie mistake. Even back in the '90s savvy teachers knew how to bypass cheat settings: they just copied and pasted the document body into a new RTF or text document, or Word Doc if they knew how to paste without formatting. Settings like 5% wider kerning, 1.05 line spacing, double spaces, tighter margins, different fonts which printed bigger for a given size, &tc. only worked on the oldest luddites or most gullible rubes. You don't think those teachers didn't share notes in the break room?
We did that in High School in the late 90's (on floppy disk ofc), before that it was all paper. There may or may not have been a floppy collection of computer viruses aimed for the school's computers floating around in class 😁
My English and History teachers, except the really old ones, always demanded a soft copy of the original document, just to check. Had a lot of classmates have to redo whole term papers!
One. I may be old but I see no reason to be proud of fearing change. We don't use typewriters so we literally don't need to do this any longer. Also, if your job hunting literally don't do this because you'll look like an idiot. It's sincerely considered wrong at this point.
Two because I took keyboarding class my freshman year and it's ingrained in my head. To all the degenerates in my class who said computers are for nerds and decided to peck their way to 40wpm for a passing grade, I hope you enjoy looking like a fool.
I'm older than 42 (I'm 45) and never used the double space after the period. I think it must've been completely phased out by the early to mid 90's. I remember my freshman year there was a discussion about it, but it was no longer required.
I’m a younger xennial and my favorite grad school project partner is older gen-x, maybe younger generation Jones (between X and boomer). I had to take over proofing all work product because our program called for single space after period as a formatting rule and she could not break the double space habit to save her life lol
Incredible woman, absolutely brilliant and so lucky I got to work with her. But for the damn double spaces
I’m a copyeditor and double spaces make my brain itch! I know it’s a simple find and replace, but I can’t help feeling ‘please don’t!’ deep in my soul!
I'm older than 42 and I've only been using one space since the early aughts. Maybe it was because I got into freelance web design and double spaces between sentences never looked good on websites, so it just stuck with me. I work with someone who is like 6 months younger than me and she double space all the way. Different experiences in our professional lives will also have an effect on this.
This must have been an American thing or something, I have never heard of putting two spaces after a period? (and I did grow up with typewriters, being an older Xennial)
I've been free since starting college in 1987; once we had computers we weren't doing double space after the period anymore. I don't see why this would be common in 42 year old people who were born after 1983.
That ship sailed decades ago, you know? A second space won't even render on a web page. Try it here. I just did two and you can't tell. Also modern text renderers already add a little extra space after a period anyway. You don't need to keep pretending your computer is a typewriter in 2025.
Agreed. Also, I think the thing that people overlook is that our micro-generation learned to type when people were still teaching two spaces, but proportional computer fonts were already a thing. We're not importing typewriter habits into the computer age; we're just using what we were taught on computers.
Two for period, one for comma. The typewriter thing is a myth, so far as to why two spaces exist. Two spaces originates from old printing presses, which do indeed use proportional typesetting like modern word processing software does, before the typewriter.
The evolution of this to a grammar rule is interesting, and most styles now have done away with it, mostly for the wrong reasons. There are studies that show reading patterns flow better when two spaces are used after a period, and others that show no difference.
For most people it's a force of habit, and there's no reason to stigmatize the age of the person for their habit.
I only do 1 now. It's been probably 10 or more years since I was converted. It makes me a little itchy now when I see double spaces between sentences, and I'll take them out of old versions of documents I am updating for work. I'm not sure what flipped the switch in me, maybe the iPhone.
But I'm still a proud Oxford comma user, and you can pry my em dash from my cold, non-AI hands.
I agree, one little space doesn’t matter, which makes it crazy how many Zs and younger Millennials are enraged about it perplexing. It’s not like being forced to wear pantyhose because that’s what was expected. That I understand crusading against.
I don’t think younger people are necessarily enraged, rather mildly amused and a bit patronizing to those poor old folks who can’t keep up with modern times.
I often do it out of force of habit. I think I read somewhere only a few years ago that I don't have to do it, so if I'm thinking about it sometimes I wont.
You’re joking, but they have saved huge amounts of time: for other people who don’t have to ‘find & replace’ throughout the entire text to correct the double spacing.
When you can spell, use punctuation correctly, and make cohesive sentences/paragraphs, I'll listen to your bullshit opinion on one extra space between thoughts.
I'm 57 and I've never understood the need for double-space after the period. Was there an issue between 1808 and 2008 where people would be confused if you didn't do that? Like they might mistake the last word for an abbreviation for something?
My wife is firmly millennial, but learned typing from some serious old-timers. Every time I edited something she wrote, I'd have to find-replace them to keep my sanity.
I went through all of elementary, middle, high school, and college, majoring in English no less, and I literally never heard that two spaces was even a thing until I was out in the workforce and my husband asked why I never put the second space. I'm 40 and he's 42 so that tracks.
Interesting...I'm 40 and I did the double-space up until about 10 years ago when I started writing documentation at work and they forced me to start removing the second space to save space lol.
It gets my goat because younger coworkers and friends get on my case that I'm still using two spaces. It's easier for me to read that way though; with one space the sentences get jumbled together in my brain.
Dear everyone younger than 42, you don't have to put lol in every serious thought you put on the internet just to let us know that you're not actually going to kill yourself.
We sort of don't care. Be emo about everything. It's fine.
Anyway, understanding simple concepts like muscle memory and how repeated habits over 30 years are nearly unbreakable especially when there's nothing to be gained would be highly advised. If two spaces triggers you, it's you. Not everyone doing it.
I am a professional type setter and I can tell you it absolutely does not look right. It looks like there are giant holes and it makes it much harder to read.
What are you talking about without the extra space it looks like all the sentences run into each other & makes the paragraph look very cluttered. The extra space visually cleans the paragraph so it’s much easy to read & pleasant to the eye.
No one likes brutalist looking giant slabs of text that why indented was invented. The extra space between sentences is just a continuation of that.
Do me a favor. Open literally any book & take a look at the line and character spacing. You will see there is no double space after periods.
So despite your protestation about brutalist-looking slabs of text, you are simply incorrect, albeit confidently incorrect, about the conventions of professional type setting
I have many times & double spacing is always easier to read & looks better.
Look chalk it up to personal preference if you like but the facts remain for many people the double space does increase readability. If you’re not one of them that’s fine, but I’m not the one going around complaining people don’t do things my way. Use whichever convention you prefer but stop assuming other people’s opinions are wrong jut because you don’t agree with them.
I know nothing about nor care one bit what professional typesetters have to say anymore then I care what grammar nazis have to say. There both pretentious clowns ardently adhering to fixed conventions when language itself is not only morphic but polymorphic & anything but fixed.
Call me a boomer all you want (I was born in 1979) but the fact that you are so positive your opinion is the only correct one just shows your obstinance.
It’s not even a matter of opinion. Typesetting exists, has for centuries, and extra spaces between sentences just aren’t part of it, so they don’t exist in a correctly typeset document. I’m surprised Reddit even displays them outside of code blocks, since HTML natively treats any amount of whitespace as just a single space.
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 The kerning on modern (digital) fonts means letters fit together nicely, and we no longer need the help of an extra space to distinguish when a sentence ends and begins.
If you're interested, you can set up autocorrect in your word processors and/or system defaults to make a double space a single one in order to adapt without changing habit.
Exactly. It’s must muscle memory at this point. I have had documents revised before going public and the double-space was removed. Nobody ever said anything to me about it though so I will continue to live it ignorant bliss.
Maybe it's the graphic design training, where I have a better than average idea of kerning or just having had access to computers earlier than my peers (a perk of dad working on so many was getting scrap parts to build our own), but I broke away from the double space long ago. Word processing made it significantly easier to read without the double space.
I remember it being a discussion in my high school among the more tech savvy students and faculty as to if the double space still made sense. English department, however, didn't care and still required it on all papers.
What if I pride myself on being from my era, have no plans to alter my life when I actually like the aesthetic of two spaces, and much less do I seek to make myself uncomfortable to appease a bunch of assholes?
Two. It's easier to read. You may pry that second space after the period out of my cold, dead hands. That's when you may also take my Oxford comma as well as the capital letter in the first letter of each word in a hash tag. From my brain to yours: you're welcome for making things easier to read.
It was only a couple of years ago that I found out people stopped using 2 spaces starting in the early 2000s. I've been making a conscious effort to only use 1 space, but I still do 2 spaces sometimes just out of habit. It's pretty funny because I can tell if someone is over the age of 40 if I see 2 spaces after a period when I'm reading their text.
I do it twice. As it makes the phone put a . Automatically. Yet it still only puts once space after the period. I will put 2 spaces after a period if I’m writing on a keyboard.
Graduated ‘97, went right to college, where it was still 2 spaces. Got kicked out after 3 semesters. Went back to college in ‘07 & got a big surprise on my first paper. Definitely missed the memo. 2 spaces always looked weird to me so I’m glad it’s just 1 now.
I only recently (like within the last 10 years, after I went back to school) evolved out of two spaces. I still occasionally use an Oxford comma. Yes, we want to be accurate but at the same time unless you’re typing a paper for class I don’t think it’s as serious as some people make it out to be. Even then, I was never marked off any of my university papers for using either.
Dear young people, the convention is and always has been two spaces. If you wish to reject the wisdom that was built upon to build society, you are welcome to live in the wilds as a non-verbal scavenger. We won't stop you.
I used to do two spaces because that's how I was raised, to the point that I would edit articles that were passed to me as a web publisher at a previous position and manually add in the double spaces before publishing the articles on our company's website.
However, when I learned exactly what this screenshot is sharing I realized the error of my ways and corrected course. It's only one space after a period now. And that's how I operate.
I asked ChatGPT to conduct a net search, determine what was the more popular convention to separate sentences over the last few years, and it told me "em dashes."
One space is also wrong after a period. It's a space and a half between sentences. Modern word processors are now smart enough to detect the end of a sentence and automatically typeset it to the appropriate 1.5 space width, whether you type the space bar once or twice. So it's not really worth arguing about since the computer does the correct thing either way.
Now, if you're on some kind of dumb software that doesn't do that- particularly one that is uniform character spacing (a text message perhaps)- there is supposed to be a larger space between sentences than between words - which is why typewriters went to two spaces instead of one- so a full two spaces is less incorrect than a single space.
No, I have to skim a lot, understand, go back and forth between drawings and text, and/or edit long technical sentences. It's a lot quicker to find the beginning of the sentence when there are two spaces, especially in longer paragraphs with lots of reoccurring words.
I have no need for reading glasses (lucky to have very good vision), but what makes it so much easier to read without the spaces? More pleasant when reading for entertainment etc maybe.
As I noted I am not reading so much as studying the text for detail. With long sentences about technical things that interact with each other, it is often necessary to re-read sentences multiple times, parse out objects etc. Much easier to do, if I can pinpoint the beginning of the sentence faster.
But I've never complained about single spacing, just my preference for how I have to work with text.
Sorry but I can’t stop 35 years of muscle memory. At least I learned proper typing. They don’t teach that to kids anymore, they all hunt and peck. My young colleagues think it’s crazy I can type “so fast” and without looking at the keys. Who is paying attention to whether people use one or two spaces anyway?
Heh, I guess it’s true, I’m 41 and I remember the typewriter being used in my household growing up, but we had a word processor by the time I wrote anything.
It's muscle memory. It makes made me mildly irritated when I took a couple additional college courses 5 years ago and one instructor graded me down for doing it.
That dosen't make anything easier for me as an old. I've been trained to that all my school and college years. Trying to remember I don't have to do something that I do automatically is harder than changing my ways. I just won't train my kid or anyone else to do it.
Two spaces were pointless as soon as proportional fonts were a thing.
People keep bringing up the Oxford comma, but they're not remotely the same thing. One serves an actual purpose, the other was a workaround from old hardware limitations.
1983 baby here, learned on a typewriter. Once I found out several years ago that it’s an old people thing and that readability is actually the same with one or two spaces, and fonts are obviously not fixed length anymore, it took a moment of subtle anger and maybe less than a week to get used to. Now I single space everything and I erase erroneous double spaces in others’ writing when we’re collaborating. Y’all, we should not be too scared to adapt to new things. It’s what makes us despise the worst of The Olds in our lives. Let’s not become them (as much).
For a while I was still double-spacing here on Reddit and on wikis, where input text is rendered in a monospaced font. But I think I've lost the habit now.
Do you have to? No. Should you? Yes. The fact that you were using a typewriter was not the purpose of a double space. It’s separation of statements. And you children definitely need to stop and think what you post and say.
I do it twice because of my iPhone, but tbh I don't quite know if I hit it twice or once on the keyboard at work. Microsoft doesn't scold for the second space so I'm. Sure that I still do both depending on what I am working on.
Early 2000's it was pretty clear to me on message boards I was the only one who had the two space habit so I phased it out, as I'm sure many others did.
Typewriter makes it sound like that was the norm pre computer age lol That was the MLA format for me growing up in the 90s up until I graduated in ‘01.
I just don’t care. I never learned to type properly because I was in marching band when that class was offered. I find that single space often looks like practically no space in Microsoft Word, so that is annoying. I think APA required double space until just a decade ago or so. If a person or program rips out double spaces and makes them single spaces, I don’t care. Go nuts. It all looks more or less the same to me.
I only just recently, as in the last two or three years, stopped doing two spaces. I never used a typewriter but every typing class I had in school from 5th to 9th grade in the early 90s still taught us that two spaces was the "correct" way. I finally started looking closely at other people's emails, reddit, etc. and realized pretty much nobody but me was doing it. So I somehow broke a habit that was over 30 years old.
I broke this habit in grad school. I was shocked. I’d been a double spacer all my life. My professor acted like everyone already knew about this change.
I put in two spaces after the final word of a sentence because our devices will auto add in a period which is convenient, and then just keep typing from there. That is equal to a single space after the period. Two spaces AFTER the period is pretty egregious.
However, that period then opens the floodgates for people who get mad cause "the period is NOW used to signify the finality of a conversation and they don't want to hear anymore", which I think is dumb as hell.
Two spaces after periods also makes books longer, which makes them more expensive to print and that cost is passed onto the consumer. Not to mention that longer books require more paper, which is wasteful. Team One Space here.
I remember finding this out in grad school when we were working on a team project. Two of us were gen Xers and one was a millennial. The millennial guy told us about not having to use two spaces anymore. That was over 10 years ago and I still haven't broken the habit.
I've finally let go of using an extra period space while I'm on my phone, but as for typing on a keyboard - forget it. I took keyboarding in high school. It's hardwired in me to double space. It's not a big deal.
Hey people under 42 with good eyesight. Even with glasses I have a hard time differentiating between a comma and a period. Two spaces helps me. I am 56. I have lived with 2 spaces and have no intention of changing!
My mom taught typing and could type at 120 WPM and taught typing in highschool after she finished her career in the Army. She only taught people to use two spaces between sentences on shitty manual typewriters that had mono spaced fonts. She only bought and preferred to usetypewriters that had proportional fonts and switched to word processors and computers as they became affordable too her.
It was two in my typing classes in elementary school. I think I did it through high school, though that may have been where I heard it was no longer necessary. In my college communications class we were told two spaces was now incorrect and so that's where it stopped for me.
Though I did learn to type on an electronic typewriter, and hand wrote half of my high school reports in cursive. I didn’t even learn about the two space rule until college? I guess I assumed this was apart of a broader requirement for certain writing styles such as APA. Heck, I don’t know! That was so dang long ago lmao
Two spaces, I'll always do it. It looks elegant and I was taught to type using a traditional type-writer. I also don't care if others don't, and I don't care if it ages me, I was born in 1978, THAT ages me.
I will put two spaces, capitalize when needed and use proper punctuation so I don't look like a fucking uneducated retard. I will spell things correctly, form sentences that make sense and use them in paragraphs. I will use one word if it replaces three.
Why? Because I grew up with books. I read material well above the 6th grade level.. I take pride in it.
Learned to type with double spaces, have tried a time or two to give it up and it hasn’t been worth the effort to break the habit. I know it’s become incorrect but I also prefer the look of double spaces. I even hit it on my phone like so many others but it takes care of it for me.
About 10 years ago I was in the middle of an education program to become a nurse. I'm going to skip some details so let's just say that my bachelor's degree was as "marketable" as my advisor suggested. Anyway, I was taking a class that was the last one before real nursing clinicals. When a paper was returned to me every time I ended a sentence the instructor had circled it in red. She left a note that I needed two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence. I asked her about this and she clarified that was the case. I was livid. I had completed high school, a bachelor's program and for said bachelor's I'd taken classes at this school before, classes at the state school I was at and a semester in a UK university. Literally no one said this was required!
I learned typing on a computer and they still wanted the 2 spaces. Never did actual work on a typewriter. Played with my grandma's. All schoolwork was computer printed and they still wanted 2 spaces.
I am laughing at everybody who keeps down voting you for no reason.
To those downvoters: the double spacing creates Rivers of blanks in the text on the screen that looks stupid and makes things actually far more difficult to read. As far as I recall, every study on the issue has shown that reading comprehension is better when there is not two spaces and it certainly, virtually no professionally typeset book will have two spaces, because it’s wrong.
I was taught speed reading at an early age and one of the tools they used was using the white spaces as part of the pattern recognition for faster reading.
When I type I put two spaces. But I started learning on a typewriter around 1986 or so. Trying to erase 40 years of muscle memory is not going to happen. There will be two spaces.
Same. I started typing in the 80s, on a typewriter, and used double spaces for that but when I started writing professionally, you learn quickly to get rid of that extra space. It’s easy to relearn, people just don’t want to try.
I grew up with two spaces. However, when I went to college later in life, a nice friend that was an English major informed me that two spaces were no longer necessary. And ever since then I've been a convert of only one space. As a matter of fact, I can't even stand two spaces anymore. I will deliberately search and delete all of them in any document I work with.
Google it. Current APA style requires one space after a period at the end of a sentence, not two. This changed from the previous recommendation in 2019.
It doesn’t hurt you. I’m not unlearning it. The two spaces will stay. Ironically, this was done by speech to text, so there is only one space between sentences!
I cared for about 5 minutes once. Then remembered that language and grammer is constantly evolving, and if I spent time overthinking it, I would very quickly become one of those that is to rigid to change with the times. I'm not ready for the "get off my lawn" stage.
I grew up with two and used that until adulthood. Then someone told me that Word already adjusted the space after periods so that it's visually appealing.
Dunno if it's all psychological, but after that two spaces looked like too much.
I learned to type with two spaces but broke the habit something like 15 years ago. It turns out that HTML doesn't even render the second space so even if you're double-spacing after a period here on Reddit, no one will know. Try it!
I'm 41, and it just doesn't look right with only one space. If it's just for the typewriter, why were they teaching it in computer classes? Just one more thing that gives away my age, I guess.
It’s too late for me. Muscle memory is both a blessing and a curse. I can still beat my favorite 8 and 16 bit games without dying. However, the double space remains.
29- I do the double space because that's how it was taught in my typing class. I do a lot of typing for work and write in my spare time, and I appreciate the extra space when reading multiple sentences in a paragraph.
I never once ever put two. I knew some folks older than me that always out two and considered anything else as improper. Like, they would look at me sideways as if I were some uncouth fool.
I gave up on the 2 spaces probably 10 years ago when I learned that it was outdated. Hard habit to break! But now I can’t go back and it drives me crazy when I see 2 spaces. I’ll leave do a Find & Replace in Docs and PPTs to make sure I replace any double spaces with a single space.
The period in digital insets the period into the last letter/word automatically, adding some space between each sentence. That being said, I’m not going to complain either way.
I will say you should use proper grammar and punctuation when texting or emailing, even if informal.
It's one. I was a die-hard two-spacer for a lot of years, all through college (English major) but even my trusty MLA eventually betrayed me. They switched from two to one in the mid-00's.
All of the major academic style guides now do single space. AP, APA, Chicago, and MLA...
I've seen these double spaces at work foot official documentation and client facing messaging. I ALWAYS remove the extra spaces whenever I can do that it doesn't look like a kid wrote it. It's unacceptable.
Muscle memory isn't changing anything at this stage, though I've always thought it was odd to require 2 spaces and would have been fine had I learned one space in the first place
I'm a writer through a bought of writers block, but I trained myself to go from 2 spaces to 1 after the period. I actually like it better. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to retrain myself.
I still dont; under stadn the 2 space deal. I grew up in a different English-speaking country and came to the US, where I was actively removing double spaces from Word documents.
I see this come up on here all the time. Who cares how many spaces there are after a period. Be glad we haven’t devolved to the world of no punctuation texts.
And anyone who argues differently, we might as well argue that we don’t even need to use punctuation since ancient writers didn’t. I mean, how much do we want to regress? The space certainly many’s it easier for the eyes to see separate sentences. And also, I don’t care if my iPhone just automatically has one space. Let’s stop making a big deal about this.
I’m a technical writer nearing fifty. The XML schema in my writing software automatically removes the extra space. I can put them in there all day long and nobody will know.
We don’t put them in there because we prefer the extra space. It’s just years of muscle memory.
I had to stop that double space when I started writing professionally. Also, the Oxford Comma is not linked to the double space. You can love your extra comma and get rid of the extra space. It is possible.
I’m almost 50 and I didn’t know about the two spaces thing until the last few years. I grew up on typewriters and computers in the 80’s and am in IT. :-/
Fighting for two spaces is silly and stubborn. It’s already been well explained in this thread why they were used with typewriter fonts, and how computer fonts are different. Get over it!
OK, but monospace fonts are also used widely on computers, and having different delimiters between sentences as between words is still functionally and aesthetically useful.
Also i have never used a typewriter. In Norway it was mostly used before i was born, and by the time i started school in 1990, it was not really used anymore.
Over 42 here and honestly even back then when learning this rule I always thought it was kind of dumb. Like why does each other form of punctuation get one space and the period, question mark, or exclamation point gets two?
As life progressed I found myself working in restaurants and really didn't have much of a need for actual proper punctuation for the better part of 25 years.
Now having transitioned into a completely different field where writing is a major part of my duties I feel like I am "stickin' it to the man" with each sentence I type.
The sense of validation and albeit smallest of dopamine releases I get with each and every sentence almost balances out a childhood spent in second hand smoke, eating paint chips and getting sold out by trickle down economics.
I know I'm in the minority, but one space has been the standard for somewhere around two decades now. It's okay to adopt and it isn't actually that hard to retrain.
The Oxford comma, though, just makes sense and I will use that to my dying days.
American here I was never taught it in typing class nor held to it in any other class though I am on the younger side of this group. I did not have typing class with typewriters though.
I don't even remember knowing anyone with a typewriter growing up except one we borrowed for filling out paper college applications. We did have a TI-99/4A at home.
I took typing classes in Uk in the 90s and it was a thing in terms of the convention for correct secretarial typing. The muscle memory is so ingrained that I cannot stop hitting the space bar twice, even if I wanted to.
I was never taught to double space after a period. It seems unnecessary. The period already does the work of separating sentences, no extra signal is needed to communicate that the statement has ended.
I have been typing for over 30 years. I know that the spacing is done automatically, but it doesn't matter. 3 decades+ of muscle memory isn't going away even if I wanted it to... which I do not.
I was a double spacer my entire life until I went back to school to get my Masters in 2015. It appears academia, including published papers, have all switched to single space. I no longer use double space as my job requires single spacing.
The only correct answer is one space. Two spaces is a leftover dinosaur from mono space typewriters.
If you look at virtually any professionally type set document, it will have justified margins and single space after periods. That is the correct answer when you are putting together a professionally type set document with a proportional line space font.
The only time where it’s acceptable is if you are using a manner space type face in a word processor. But frankly, there is very little reason to do that other than to emulate the look of an old typewriter these days.
I draft contracts and our sentences are like 400 words long. Double spacing helps you parse the document.
Otherwise, I don't have strong opinions, but if I'm reading a dense article, it does help break up large chunks of text. So slight preference visually in the case, but whatever.
Double spaces create rivers in your typesetting which are ugly and distracting. So you can do that all you want but when I lay out an article I’m getting rid of ‘em.
Technology has caused me to forget what I used to do. I just put the . in there and proceed. I did have to remove auto correct since the AI got involved. It was changing entire sentences. I do a good enough job of making a fool of myself. I don't need any assistance from AI!
Double spaces is a vestige of the printing press to ensure that the ink of the new sentence didn’t run into the old sent once. With digital type the double space is irrelevant, and I would counsel everyone to not elongate your work by double spacing.
I put two spaces. It looks nicer to me. Seems like a pretty petty thing to worry about for the younger generation considering how F’d they are right now.
I don't have to, but I can't undo my muscle memory when using a physical keyboard.
As someone that's been steeped in HTML, Markdown and LaTeX for 30 years, I'd argue that this debate is moot if we'd stop conflating content with layout.
My thumb does 2 clicks of the spacebar after a period. I’m not undoing that muscle memory for one less thumb click and to appease the masses. 2 spade for life.
There is no fighting muscle memory. I have been doing two spaces for so long that, at this point, it's damned near impossible for me to change. I'll stick to using two spaces.
I stopped doing the double space pretty much as soon as I got out of typing class, because after that I only used computers and didn't need it. That said, as someone doing more hobby writing now, I do wish keyboards were set up for en space and em space and that maybe en space was the default between sentences. Personally I think that would be the real universal solution.
I type two spaces to end a sentence on my phone because it auto populates the period. Not sure if that is one or two spaces at the end, but it definitely encourages TWO spaces in my brain when doing it manually on a computer. 🤣
Never did, we had a compact black and white Macintosh at home since I was in 2nd grade, so all my school reports were done on computers since day one. Used to play around with my grandmother's typewriter when I visited her though, just to get that bell sound and to slap the machine back to the beginning forcefully 😁
I was in the two spaces after a period camp until I worked as a transcriptionist. My boss (who was Gen X if not Boomer) told me that we don't need the two spaces anymore because of the word processor, and while I'm at it, please stop typing it "altogether" and "alright" and instead type "all together" and "all right".
And as folks have already said here, shout out to the Oxford comma, a true disambiguator.
Two spaces is just reflex for me because that's how I was taught. Judging people on dumb shit that doesn't matter is what old assholes do, so who's really acting like the boomer? If you're a copy editor, CTRL+F and earn your pay. If you aren't, STFU.
I've been 1 space after the period my whole life. I had a writing heavy degree in college and 2 spaces always felt like a cheap way to pad a paper that was page count and not word count. Sometimes I accidentally add an extra space on the phone or wherever it automatically adds the space, just out of reflex.
One if by phone, two if by laptop. I’m a home keys guy. Spring of 96 was word processor boot camp. I don’t think I could ditch the two space after the period if I tried.
For any situation where it is actually important, the typesetting software that generates the printed text will ignore the actual number of space characters after a . and set the space to the "correct" value for a new sentence.
I remember being forced to do the double space when learning how to type. I didn’t for the exercises but never did it after because double space was a dumb concept for keyboard.
Two spaces are the best delimiter for sentences, making it more useful in the digital era, not less. Because sentences can end in one of many punctuation marks, and those marks aren't exclusively used between sentences, the two space convention should live on for simpler parsing of prose.
It was accidental that this analog convention has become so convenient in the digital world, but we'd be fools to squander it now.
43 here and I honestly don't remember if I was taught double or single space after the period. I never used a typewriter in school. Believe it or not we had three computers in our classroom. IBM with dot matrix printers.
I do one space now, but sometimes none if I need room or there is a character limit. We didn’t have a typewriter at home but I remember learning two spaces on the computer in middle school keyboarding class and I used it through college.
Look, when I'm typing, its habit. It's not going to change at this point. I get that I don't need it, and young people don't need to do emojis all the time or say stupid sayings. But here we are.
Um, I never really used a typewriter, my dad had one in his office and I played with it but never seriously used one or had a typewriter class, our computer lab at school had PCs in the 80s with a word processor, and we did 1 space after the period.
I was taught to do two spaces in typing class in middle school. Then in high school I took a graphic design class where I learned to not do that. Haven’t done two spaces since.
It's been more work to stop doing something I've built a habit of with a million repetitions over a span of decades so thanks for making a thing out of it
I learned to type on a typewriter and used two spaces after a period for more than 25 years. Even when writing technical documentation, I stuck with double spacing until someone pointed out about 10 years ago that one space is now standard. They were right. It took thought and practice to break the habit, but I eventually adjusted to a single space.
I was born in 1980, we got our first home computer in '83. We had a typewriter too (hell my parents probably still have it somewhere in the basement), but I was never taught or used the 2 space thing. I didn't even know it was A Thing until people started talking about not needing to do it any more.
This is a hill I'll die on. Two spaces is simply the correct answer for the U.S. Navy officials who were asked the question after their training mission said that that they agree.
See how you fucked up parsing that and had to read it twice??
I stopped double spacing 15+ years ago. I gladly made the switch and never looked back. And that was after 6 years in newspaper copy writing and editing.
jaydog21784@reddit
Start typing and double tap space and see what happens.
KC5SDY@reddit
That was a habit that took me a VERY long time to break.
marcusdj813@reddit
I'll still use 2 spaces. The world won't end because of it.
hypo11@reddit
Since the iPhone will automatically do a period and a single space if you hit the space bar twice, I’ve kind of been forced into 1. But I grew up with 2 and that still feels right to me.
cranialvoid@reddit
I find the extra space makes it easier to recognize the break between sentences. I don’t understand why it was changed to single space after more than a century of being two spaces.
bs6@reddit
Ooh I know this one. It’s because of how typewriters were engineered. They used monospaced fonts meaning each letter and punctuation took up the same amount of horizontal space. Unfortunately this made it hard to see where sentences end. So, the best practice among typists became “hit the space key twice after a period” and let’s make the best of limited technology. Now, modern writing tools use proportional fonts rather than monospaced, so that problem of uneven spaces between words and after a period is no longer an issue because the characters are automatically adjusted for readability. As a result the double space after a period looks odd relative to the rest of the document.
nschively@reddit
Yeah, but.... The keyboard you are likely using is QWERTY - which was intentionally designed to be inefficient to prevent mechanical keyboard jams. Have you adopted Colemak yet? In for a penny, in for a pound.
Bush-LeagueBushcraft@reddit
I disagree with your last point. I think it still looks better with two spaces.
1) there are both monotype and non monotype fonts in current, modern word processing software. 2) personally, I still like 2 spaces as it better indicates the pause a period signifies.
Hellament@reddit
I’m with you. It’s the same reason I like an Oxford comma. While that last comma might be avoided jn many cases without ambiguity, the last comma still signifies a pause, which is certainly helpful when reading a long list. You can insert the implied pause from context, but it’s always easier to not have to do so.
DarkHairedMartian@reddit
Ah! My people! Why on Earth anyone thought we could do without double spacing and the Oxford comma, I do not know.
Xrsyz@reddit
You want to know why you use an Oxford comma? Here’s why:
I walked into the county fair pavilion and was surprised to see two huge pigs, your mother and your aunt.
Versus
I walked into the county fair pavilion and was surprised to see two huge pigs, your mother, and your aunt.
Bonuscup98@reddit
The people who are saying you don’t need two spaces or the Oxford comma don’t use punctuation. They think we can do without it all.
everythinghappensto@reddit
I use punctuation very well thank you, including the oxford comma and even the semicolon where kids today would mistakenly drop commas. But I've moved on from the two space malarkey.
S_A_R_K@reddit
You know, morons
jaymoney1@reddit
So, no ending punctuation?
S_A_R_K@reddit
What do you expect? I'm just the common clay of the new West
Bonuscup98@reddit
Didn’t think I’d run into a Mel Brooks joke this morning but such is the life of a standup philosopher.
SoupIsNotAMeal@reddit
I believe that was a Gene Wilder ad-lib, but I’m only a pawn in the game of life.
Bonuscup98@reddit
Because it’s so iconic
https://youtu.be/hYTQ7__NNDI?si=BVQZBRJC8IfS3MlI
And this one too
https://youtu.be/bctYe13iePI?si=jAQol_cB2Yh7dB8K
ColorMeUnsurprised@reddit
What if I love the Oxford comma, but I loathe two spaces?
Bonuscup98@reddit
You’re a grammarians worst nightmare.
EthanDMatthews@reddit
The people who don’t use two spaces are strongly correlated to those who are triggered if you end a text with a period.
Acceptingoptimist@reddit
Nope. I love punctuation and don't double space my sentences. That's what the fucking period is for. See? You all knew my statement ended and didn't need your redundant space to figure it out. Born in the early 80s, by the way.
LeftyLiberalDragon@reddit
I like OC but I don’t like double spaces. They’re archaic and were only incorporated because of technological limitations. Totally unnecessary. The OC has a purpose.
Kade7596@reddit
+1 Oxford comma -- there are rational reasons for it.
-1 Double-spacing at the end of sentences -- there are none.
Petraaki@reddit
Oxford comma, Yes! Double space, No. :-)
Peanut083@reddit
I’ve never done either double spacing or Oxford commas. My mum was a legal secretary back in the day and was the one who taught me how to touch type at age 12 when we got our first computer. She never mentioned anything about double spacing, and she learned how to type in the late ‘70s before electronic typewriters were a thing. I’ll have to ask her about whether she used to double space back in the day.
As for Oxford commas, they’re not used as a standard form of punctuation in Standard Australian English. They’re only used when required to remove ambiguity or when items in a list are complex. I had no idea what they even were when I started seeing debates about their use amongst (mainly) Americans online. I now find myself using them a lot on reddit subs where most of the audience are from the US, just because I know how it’s how the majority of the audience reading what I’m typing have been trained to write (and thus read) and understand lists. It still makes my brain hurt, though.
Coca-colonization@reddit
The Oxford comma was (largely) eliminated in newspaper style books (eg, AP style) to save space and ink in yon olden days. It doesn’t really matter in digital contexts, but the convention remains.
RaisedByBooksNTV@reddit
Um, the oxford comma is a critical for understanding. Fuck space, ink, and digital contexts.
Coca-colonization@reddit
To clarify, I meant that saving space and ink isn’t a concern in digital contexts. I didn’t mean the Oxford comma didn’t matter in digital contexts.
jmil1080@reddit
I personally feel that two spaces is unnecessary and kinda looks dumb, but I will absolutely die on this hill that the Oxford comma is essential and should always be used. I will never understand why that went out the wayside.
Head-Proof7273@reddit
I'm 51. This is the first year I stopped putting 2 spaces after a period because my high school and college students were freaking out. They all see any punctuation (especially periods and ellipses) as "aggressive." They still have to use punctuation, in my English and Composition classes, anyway... 😈
Hellament@reddit
Aggressive?! Sheesh. As a college math instructor, I can sympathize…probably just a matter of time until I hear something similar about fractions lol.
Prior-Grapefruit7662@reddit
I do love the Oxford comma.
dimesinger@reddit
As a staunch supporter of the Oxford comma, I disagree. Many publishers (especially online) abandoned the double space a long time ago. People aren't losing meaning there in the same way they do with poor comma usage.
Surrybee@reddit
Fellow Oxford comma loyalist here. Two spaces after a full stop/period looks jarring to my eyes.
Big_Smooth_CO@reddit
I find the type of people that use the Oxford to be older, more educated and, pedantic.
Surrybee@reddit
You gotta move that comma forward a word.
Big_Smooth_CO@reddit
That was part of the joke.
LangdonAlg3r@reddit
I think it’s as distracting as any typo.
Hellament@reddit
The best “case” I can make for it is that it makes the break in sentences a tiny bit more noticeable. When reading, we often time (or budget) our breathing to coincide with sentences ending. It’d be less important if we didn’t also use the period for abbreviations, decimal numbers, and ellipses.
Kitty_Kat_Attacks@reddit
Oxford comma is a necessity. However, I’m ambivalent about the double space—as long as the writer is consistent in their use, I don’t really notice it. Just commit to using one or two spaces throughout your document! No switching back and forth!
pinkocatgirl@reddit
What kind of monster refuses to use the Oxford comma?
Hellament@reddit
I’ll tell you who:
Dummies , poopieheads , silly geese
,
and weirdos
Affectionate-Nose176@reddit
If you blur your eyes a little you can see little patterns with the negative space from the double spaces at sentence breaks. Thanks for the reminder, totally works with your comment.
Core memory unlocked. Long lice the double space.
Oh, I’m in an iPhone. Ease of double tap space bar at the end of sentence has made me a hypocrite.
superjonk@reddit
Im still doing two spaces
molniya@reddit
It’s not really a matter of preference as much as going back to following standard typesetting practice as it’s been established for centuries. Monospaced typewriter text made for a dark era of typography that we’re just now getting out of. Look at the decline in use of punctuation that isn’t found on a typewriter keyboard, with all the philistines who can’t imagine that a human would ever use an em dash.
Maurice_Foot@reddit
— em dash: option+shift+dash
– en dash: option+dash
° option+shift+8
… option ;
Evocatorum@reddit
Or, for those that don't use macs:
— : Alt + 0151 on numpad keys
– : Alt + 0150 on numpad keys
°: Alt + 0176 on numpad keys
... : stop being lazy and just type 3 periods. I mean, if you need a shortcut for this, you're using it too often and likely not correctly.
5erif@reddit
…: a lot of fonts have the kerning too tight or too loose for repeated periods, and in those cases, an actual ellipsis can look better.
—: I really miss being able to liberally use em dashes, but now when people see them, they assume you've had AI write the comment for you. ChatGPT really, really loves em dashes.
Kade7596@reddit
Prefer … to ... where a monospace font is used, which, for me, is almost everywhere (Network Engineer). 😉
_-N4T3-_@reddit
I hate that using proper punctuation, especially less-common punctuation, has become a “sign of AI”
Kade7596@reddit
ALT+0133… 🫠
CanoePickLocks@reddit
…
dimesinger@reddit
I know this works on a mac but I don't think it does in Windows, unless the software autocorrects for it (Word and Outlook will change -- to —).
UserBelowMeHasHerpes@reddit
Thanks.. I think?
Bush-LeagueBushcraft@reddit
Just for that, I'm going to start a revolution and change which punctuation is used where. An apostrophe for a contraction? Absurd! You'll now use a colon. Questions will be identified with a question mark no longer. In their place will be double end quotation marks.
Bedlam and mayhem may ensue, but it's worth it!
CanoePickLocks@reddit
Interrobang‽‽
rbltech82@reddit
It's also a part of legal and academic writing styles.
EAROAST@reddit
The period itself indicates the longer pause. That's what that punctuation mark is for.
For better or worse, two spaces looks like a really long pause in between your sentences. Which makes you look slow.
I feel like people would not be so quick to defend two spaces if they knew it literally makes them look like slow thinkers.
LangdonAlg3r@reddit
I think the two spaces look heinous and don’t contribute to readability. It’s also aesthetically and in terms of readability not what the font designers intended.
If I’m reading a document with 2 spaces it’s like reading something riddled with typos. Every single time I see it is a distraction from whatever I’m trying to read.
Let’s just use our fonts the way they were designed to be used and to appear. I think using the double spaced period in the digital age is equivalent to not using it in the analog age—just wrong.
I will always use my Oxford Comma though because that’s timeless and a matter of style. Meanwhile, the double spaced period is the literary equivalent of socks with sandals. You can do it, but it looks very bad and is not how either was designed to be used.
BoogerFeast69@reddit
I mean, what kind of monster uses monospace font in their word processing software?
rbltech82@reddit
APA and MLA formatting is required for some court filings. I've seen some documents that were just made that I mistook for being 1997 or earlier.
MyHGC@reddit
when you need to draw ASCI text pictures of course!
thechristoph@reddit
Is Times New Roman monospaced? A lot of courts require filings to be typed in that font.
goofytigre@reddit
There are still some legitimate use cases for monospaced fonts. I use Courier New in many of the technical documents I write for work. When working with people where English isn't their first language (and sometimes not their second or even third language), the last thing I need is a font making the language barrier worse.
misdirected_asshole@reddit
It doesnt look odd, it makes it easy to quickly scan a paragraph and separate the sentences. It helps you process the text faster visually. There is function to it now regardless of why it began.
LangdonAlg3r@reddit
It’s distracting and looks like a series of typos in your text. You can see at a glance that it sticks out and looks wrong. It does not help you process the text faster visually. There is no support for that idea in the digital age. It was only necessary with typewriters.
misdirected_asshole@reddit
Do you all think Im just making shit up?
https://www.discovermagazine.com/scientists-two-spaces-after-periods-reads-faster-11588
LangdonAlg3r@reddit
The study picked one of the very few monospaced fonts (Courier) that still exist in the digital sphere, so the results don’t really move beyond the logic used for typewriters. Even then the results do not impress. I think the study actually supports the argument that even when it was relevant to use DSP it was still a waste of time for a negligible bump in reading speed and that it actually harmed overall reading comprehension.
If you use a monospaced font there is a 3% bump in reading speed for those people who type with two spaces but there is a 3.9% decrease in reading comprehension for those who use DSP in their typing when reading a DSP text.
Those of us who type with one space gain approximately a 1% boost to reading speed and a 0.5% boost in reading comprehension when reading a monospaced font.
None of this tells us anything about what happens with proportional fonts (those being the vast majority of what we read every day). In the absence of any research that shows that reading is improved in any way by using DSP in proportional fonts I’m going to continue to side with the typesetters and graphic designers (and anyone who actually cares about how text looks) who will tell you that DSP looks like shit when used with proportional fonts.
misdirected_asshole@reddit
Courier is a monodpaced font and it was a Windows default for like a decade....
rbltech82@reddit
Fixed that for you. Just because it helps you doesn't mean it does everyone.
misdirected_asshole@reddit
There are studies that produce those same results, not just for me.
Longjumping_Cod_9132@reddit
Not sure if someone told you this, but you have too much space after your periods.
Eastern-Joke-7537@reddit
Ok.
But the Oxford comma is non-negotiable.
misdirected_asshole@reddit
My gf told me she had too much space after her period too. Then all of a sudden nine months later look what happened.
RoncoSnackWeasel@reddit
“Monospace isn’t for everyone. Talk to your doctor about Monospace if you have too much space after your periods, to see if it’s the right solution for you.”
Dot_Ruffles@reddit
Apprehensive_Hat8986@reddit
From a purely numerical perspective, a variable width font makes it harder - not easier - to see the end of a sentence. With a variable width period being literally one of the narrowest characters, the space between sentences blends more into the blur of gaps between words. The period adds far less space ending a sentence than it used to as a mono-spaced character.
Basically, the argument provided doesn't actually make any sense, even though it is the argument that is typical of the subject.
Farm-Alternative@reddit
Thank you so much for this random information. Now I can bring it up now whenever double spaces ever get mentioned and I'll look like the smartest person in the room for at least a few minutes.
Justice_Prince@reddit
But it seems like there was a decent stretch of time where computer typing had become the default, and double space was still standard. Like when I was learning to type in computer lab in the 90s we were taught to double space.
moonbunnychan@reddit
It was so pounded into my head by my typing teacher in middle school that it's basically involuntarily now. We didn't pass the assignment if we single spaced. I still prefer how it looks personally.
iceskatinghedgehog@reddit
Ahh, the memories of typing class. That teacher who wants to be anywhere but here, monontoning, "a-a-a- space s-s-s space d-d-d space." Good times.
I am a fan of the double space after a period and I continue to use it. But even when I want to do single spaces (like co-writing with a peer who uses single spaces), I physically cannot undo the reflex that is the "period space space" typing motion. I don't mean for it to be a "back in my day..." moment, I just cannot overcome how ingrained the double space is in my typing schema.
BrucetheFerrisWheel@reddit
Ooh SAME! I honestly didn't know I wasn't supposed to be doing it anymore. Whoops! I don't have a computer based job, so I missed the memo I guess.
Alatariel99@reddit
Yes, I've always assumed it was because our computer lab teachers had learned on typewriters. But that's just a guess.
Personally I'd consider single space for official submissions, but mostly I'll just do what comes naturally. Everyone I email has seen me and knows I'm not a kid anyway.
rbltech82@reddit
It's actually because the market share of office software had that and monotype fonts set as default to comply with the standard of the time.
DengarLives66@reddit
Yes, because old people historically have a habit of not accepting change readily. I’m starting to see it in this sub, we’ve been having a decent amount of complaints amounting to “things aren’t the same as when I was a kid.” It’s no surprise, every generation has done it, I just wish there was more self-awareness here rather than it devolving into another Facebook.
deleted_opinions@reddit
I assumed publishers calculated that the extra space from each sentence would save like $10K per year in printing costs due to the accumulation of unused spaces and therefore longer publications.
lollipop-guildmaster@reddit
It's still hard to see the difference, particularly if you're dyslexic. Two spaces makes sense.
dragonslayer137@reddit
Thx for explaining
ExtremelyOkay8980@reddit
Like the tweet says, the typewriter.
Acrobatic-Ad-5966@reddit
Because the younger generation doesn't seem to have the time to do proper etiquette in writing a sentence
Kumba42@reddit
My working theory on this is because of how HTML is rendered in browsers. Back in ye olden days, when one could write a website's HTML entirely in Notepad, whitespaces characters were used for formatting as well as code indentation. Browser engines of that era would treat a single whitespace as a formatting space, and so, you would visually see that in the rendered output as a space between words, after punctuation, etc. But if there were two or more spaces, the browser engine would only render a single space, and this was because one would use those extra spaces (and TABs) to indent HTML tags for readability.
If you wanted more than one space to be rendered, you had to throw in a non-breaking space entity,
(char code 0xA0 in the extended ASCII set, U+00AO in Unicode, and ALT+0160 in Windows' numeric keypad). Hence why back in the days, if you looked at the page source of a given site, you'd sometimes see long lines of throughout the code; usually this was used as a hack to force a specific formatting, before people better learned CSS to do the same task.I think that because of this really tiny nuance back then, children and young adults who grew up in that era got used to seeing only a single space after punctuation, even if there were two or more, and they adopted this in their writing styles. By the time professional writing organizations figured this out, it was effectively too late to change this now-ingrained behavior, so there's been a push to get people to just stick to using a single space after punctuation, and it'll be up to rendering engines to add any needed graphical enhancements to make distinguishing between sentences easier.
That said, as someone who grew up doing two spaces after punctuation, that's what I continue to to do, and will continue to do, until those two spaces are pried from my cold, dead (or undead) hands. And yes, this entire post has two spaces between each sentence, though it may not be possible to observe it, as I don't know if Reddit strips extra spaces out or not (since in its Markdown mode, two spaces at the end of a paragraph is regarded as a break between paragraphs). If someone wants to check the underlying code in an inspector, that'll reveal if it preserved my two-spaces between sentences, but the rendered output will likely carry only a single space (this can vary between browsers and platforms).
misdirected_asshole@reddit
There have been a few studies to support this.
I stick with two spaces because its easier to read and I dont give asf what anybody else says about it being antiquated. Why do things that reduce efficiency in use that take so little effort?
lupulineffect@reddit
Part of my job is to edit my colleagues' writing and my efficiency is reduced when they put two spaces after everything, because I have to manually delete them all.
Few-Helicopter-3413@reddit
Same. I also blind read submissions and when I see two spaces, I immediately know I’m reading someone older than 40. (I’m also older than 40 and adapted to one space, so it’s possible.)
alles_en_niets@reddit
42, never double spaced in my life. I’m starting to wonder if this was an American quirk to begin with or if you guys just stuck to it much longer.
hypo11@reddit
It sounds like “Find/Replace” would be a great help to you.
lupulineffect@reddit
Sincerely, thank you! I use Find/Change often and yet I've never used it for this.
UserBelowMeHasHerpes@reddit
Lol I know youre sitting there thinking "how the fuck did I miss that for so long.."
Your efficiency about to go through the roof (:
PM_asian_girl_smiles@reddit
Relevant username 😭
cranialvoid@reddit
I had the same thought.
misdirected_asshole@reddit
Yeah others commented, but Find and Replace is your friend.
Also why are two spaces after a sentence not allowed?
Xx_SwordWords_xX@reddit
Ctrl+F (use find-replace)
Find: .(2 spaces) Replace: .(1 space)
Longjumping_Cod_9132@reddit
I work on documents that several people write and edit. I figured out a while ago that, while I was adding two spaces after the period, other people weren’t. If I kept adding two spaces, someone had to go in and remove them, so I stopped.
lupulineffect@reddit
I appreciate that so much! I was taught to type with two spaces in 1994. But it actually wasn't hard to switch. One space is the modern professional standard, regardless of our personal opinions.
UserBelowMeHasHerpes@reddit
"A single fuck"? Never seen asf used like this what is it short for?
dimesinger@reddit
age / sex / focation
LtPowers@reddit
Don't those studies show that properly typeset text is easier to read without the double spaces?
terrymr@reddit
Because html collapses any number of spaces down to a single space.
LangdonAlg3r@reddit
Because we stopped using typewriters.
Old-Piece-3438@reddit
Because of the move from typewriters to word processors. They automatically adjust spacing and adding 2 spaces creates weird rivers of white space and more work for typographers.
Neither-Principle139@reddit
Exactly this. Coming from printing and print media, this is reason. Just looks weird and is a pain in the ass to format with all the extra space.
IShouldChimeInOnThis@reddit
Looks weird to whom? It is more familiar, if anything.
GuerillaRiot@reddit
I'm not gonna lie. I've been in Reddit heaven with all of these double-checked comments with proper punctuation, spelling, and formatting in this thread. I wish it didn't, but it bothers me when people have all these tools to get their grammatical shit together and purposely ignore them to save a few nanoseconds of time.
zerok_nyc@reddit
More familiar to whom? The double space after a period didn’t exist before print. It was a hack for machines that couldn’t express the nuance of written words that predates it for centuries.
Before print, the visual form of writing was an art form and mode of self-expression in and of itself beyond the words. People could pick up on the subtle cues of variable-width spacing without needing the extra space after a period to denote a stop. The ability to detect that nuance was lost for the Boomers and Gen X. But modern font designers have been able to reintroduce that nuance, where the fonts themselves become a form of self-expression.
That’s why there are countless studies showing that younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials) place a much higher premium on font choice as a form of self-expression and online identity compared to Boomers and Gen X. Doing away with the double space after the period is actually a return to tradition, with younger generations more in tune with the nuances of text and expression than older generations who have lost the ability naturally detect those subtle visual cues.
thejunkmanadv@reddit
This is called kerning.
justadorkygirl@reddit
I absolutely agree about the rivers of white space. I’ve always been a strong reader, but those rivers were all I could see - one space feels so much smoother and less taxing.
(I recognize and accept that I’m probably in the minority among my fellow xennials. LOL.)
YourGuyK@reddit
The meme above answers your question. We don't use typewriters anymore.
ApricotRemarkable681@reddit
Adding to the fact that it's easier to scan, it's also easier to read.
RadChef@reddit
Oh shit it does. Cool. WOW. That’s neat.
ThinkFree@reddit
I had typing class in high school that taught two spaces after a period. But I easily shifted to single space once I started using a word processor. I am not beholden to old stuff.
Into-the-stream@reddit
There is a whole art around maximizing readigg by comfort, with optimal line width, fonts, spaces between lines and a lot of other things designed to reduce eye fatigue.
Published novels (ones by established publishers) adhere to these things most. Even the slightly off-white page does it.
12 pt type in times new Roman, 2 spaces after the period, with 1 inch margins on a letter size page and double spaced lines might feel right to those who had it drilled into them by English teachers, but typographically it’s terrible, and will greatly contribute to eye fatigue. It’s why you will never see a professionally done novel released with even one of those things.
Cameront9@reddit
Hitting the spacebar twice satisfies my two space muscle memory.
carlp222@reddit
I've been doing it that way for way too long for me to try and change now. Now, get these kids off my lawn.
Blandish06@reddit
Where was this muscle memory built? Mavis Beacon never had me do that.
Cameront9@reddit
My brain adapted. Now instead of typing period space space I just hit space twice at the end of the sentence. In my head that still counts as “two spaces at the end of the sentence. “
INeedAndesMints@reddit
Was looking for this comment. I automatically do it so I don’t have to deal with changing over to the period page.
USAF_Retired2017@reddit
Same
trcharles@reddit
That was to accommodate the fact that all typewritten letters of the alphabet had the same width, so it would be hard to differentiate sentences without the double space. Now they’re all proportional(?) so a double space has literally been rendered unnecessary.
RedRedKrovy@reddit
It’s unnecessary but it also doesn’t hurt anything so I still use it. It’s a habit I’ll never be able to break without some major effort involved.
alles_en_niets@reddit
The only situations I can think of where it could hurt:
sending out job applications
working on a collaborative project. Others would have to fix your double spacing
writing professional content
trying to connect with a younger (under 40 lol) audience. To be fair, with a much younger audience any use of punctuation appears to be an issue
trcharles@reddit
I was the opposite; I had a hard time at first but then I’d see the double space and it looked so weird. I got out of the habit because single space looks right/normal to me.
MaineHippo83@reddit
Real writing isn't done on a phone though. Two spaces on the keyboard always.
notsureifxml@reddit
i know in my bones that there was a time i hit two spaces. And I like im sure many of us, never wrote anything (other than messing around) on a typewriter. But somewhere along the way the second space stopped happening. I have no idea when. and that bothers me.
JamesMattDillon@reddit
Same here. I prefer the double space. But my phone and tablet only does one. The double space feels and looks right
clarkw024@reddit
I only recently learned two was ever a thing - like last year
PersianCatLover419@reddit
I have an iPhone and it does not type that way. I use gboard so I think that is why?
flxtime@reddit
This
Scottisironborn@reddit
I came here to say that! bitch if it's unnecessary why do I have this function? fuck you lol
WittyClerk@reddit
Okay well... the phone is different than the computer.
rydan@reddit
Two. What is odd is someone on Reddit once asked me why I type with two spaces when I was responding to him. But how did he know?
Foulmouthedleon@reddit
Shouldn’t there be a period after the word free?
Seven22am@reddit
Two spaces, an Oxford comma, punctuation in texts, and I’m not giving up my em dashes.
miltonwadd@reddit
Don't forget to hit enter twice at the end of a paragraph.
ladyzowy@reddit
Word messes me up now because the hard return is a paragraph spacing now when writing. It sucks!!
Longjumping_Cod_9132@reddit
I greatly dislike all of the formatting defaults in word.
dimesinger@reddit
Yeah. Word tries to hard to be helpful by making too many decisions for you. It can be willed into submission, but it takes so much work to get it there.
Haunt_Fox@reddit
I always hated Word, and will use anything else but that. Word for DOS is why I learned WordPerfect 5.1 with all its three-key shortcuts, it was still better than the suckage that is Word.
Maurice_Foot@reddit
I’ve never liked a version of Word past 5.1a. Was just a basic word processor, did what you told it to do.
But I suppose after creating a good app and selling it ouright to a user, you cankt just leave it at that. Need to keep adding on bells and whistles so you can forever charge the customers.
everythinghappensto@reddit
Paragraph spacing, and styles in general, are far superior than manually farting around with the formatting of each and every bit of text you type
UNMANAGEABLE@reddit
If anyone under the age of 30 had to use WordPerfect today they would lose their damn mind 😂
everythinghappensto@reddit
I wish Word had something like Reveal Codes. But I don't recall it having definable styles.
But man, those function key combos. Let's see... from memory: Ctrl-F2 for spell check, Alt-F7 to exit, F11 for reveal codes, and F12 to show the menu bar? How'd I do?
dimesinger@reddit
This is how it ought to be. Manually adding returns was necessary because it was the only way to add that visual space. Software does it automatically now, and it can be fine tuned to preferences.
notoriousrdc@reddit
You can change that in paragraph settings if you want to.
ladyzowy@reddit
Yup, just means I have to change all the defaults too.
dimesinger@reddit
As someone who typesets for a living, a huge no to this. Most modern software has built-in spacing after paragraphs and it should be used rather than inserting empty characters. It's always an annoying extra step to remove all those returns when I'm creating a document.
miltonwadd@reddit
Lol it's just referring to the "rules" we were taught on typewriters that didn't translate over into word processors because they do it themselves.
Some of us had typing conventions so drilled into us from typing class that even after 30 odd years of computers we remember them.
dimesinger@reddit
I had those typing classes too. Also 1982 Xennial here.
N_Who@reddit
I happily abandoned the two spaces, but I'll not give an inch on the rest of it.
FudgyMcTubbs@reddit
I don't care that AI uses the em dash -- it was mine first!
ThePerfectSnare@reddit
Right? It's frustrating that people assume I'm a bot -- or otherwise that I'm using AI -- just because I take an extra moment to format what I've written in order to make it easier to read. I have years of long-winded drivel!
DearBurt@reddit
But you, correctly, put spaces around the em dash.
quintk@reddit
Are you British or something?
DearBurt@reddit
Yes, I am something.
quintk@reddit
:-) in seriousness, I was simply wrong. I thought spacing around em dashes was a US vs UK thing, but AP style favors spaces. Other style and typography guides disagree.
ikeif@reddit
Huh. In an effort to use less parantheticals, I was doing “ - “ (space-dash-space). I need to review the AP guidelines. It’s been too long since I’ve been graded on my writing 😆
FirmResearcher4617@reddit
You mean, fewer parentheticals.
ikeif@reddit
I already said I needed more grammatical syntactical assistance! 😆
quintk@reddit
You don’t have to do anything special—iPhones automatically replace double hyphens with em dashes and so do Microsoft office products. Now, using en-dashes, that would be pretentious!
I get what you are saying though. I write excellent, learned, American English. Especially if I’m using a conscientiously unbiased and emotionally positive “customer service” tone of voice, I start to sound like AI. Off topic: it does kindof suck. I have a STEM background but my career is built on “writes better than most STEM people”
mrwix10@reddit
Being able to communicate better than most STEM people is a huge advantage though. Especially as you get older and find that companies don’t want to hire you for hands-on tech roles as much, you can easily leverage that into a lead or management role.
PiginthePen@reddit
I need to hear this… thank you.
Independent-Gene7737@reddit
Well done.
paradigm619@reddit
As of last week, Microsoft Office on my work computer stopped automatically formatting dashes into em dashes.
S_A_R_K@reddit
Cortana has claimed it for herself
dogtor_howl@reddit
When I edit academic writing, I frequently have to correct hyphens that should be en dashes. Ctrl + - (on a number pad) makes quick work of it. I love Google Docs because it makes hyphen/en dash/em dash even easier: One - is a hyphen, two - becomes an en dash, and three - becomes an en dash. Editorial joy!
quintk@reddit
Nothing I write or review goes in front of an audience that cares about that level of finesse which is good because I know how to do special characters in MacOS and in LaTeX but can never remember the windows/word shortcuts.
I do try to put non-breaking spaces between numbers and units though. Reading 21 cm is a typographical pet peeve
ikeif@reddit
I love occasionally throwing in an — ndash — inappropriately – maybe some day I’ll remember how they’re used appropriately.
misdirected_asshole@reddit
Autocorrect has formatted em dashes for years now. Character - space - dash - space - character becomes an em dash in Word and a few other word processors. And I think its on by default.
volvagia721@reddit
Just use a semicolon in place of the dash; it functions exactly the same, and is technically correct grammar.
dogtor_howl@reddit
That’s not always true. A semicolon can link two independent clauses or separate items in a list of the items themselves include commas; however, a semicolon can’t punctuate an aside—like this one—like em dashes.
greenmky@reddit
That's true
But the em dash "aside" is just bad English-ing, it should just be two thoughts.
Sorry, History major, did too much formal writing.
My 19 yr old daughter loves the emdash. Sigh
dogtor_howl@reddit
Eh, I wouldn’t call it bad English-ing, just different English-ing. A conversational tone is sometimes welcome, even in academic venues (including the academic journal I manage).
DBE113301@reddit
I actually prefer the em dash to parentheses. To me, parentheses means it's not important and I can skip over it. I don't want people skipping over my writing, damn it!
SlapHappyDude@reddit
I admire how much effort you put into formatting a throwaway reddit post.
ddIbb@reddit
That’s an en dash or hyphen.
This is an em dash:
—
FudgyMcTubbs@reddit
Nice try, bot.
jasonrubik@reddit
get off my dash ! em dash !
bluemitersaw@reddit
That's literally why AI uses them, they learned from us!!!
UNMANAGEABLE@reddit
And specifically learned from public domain material which tends to be older writing styles.
Yes I know AI also sources training material unethically, but it’s probably weighted to issue results closer to what is similar to public domain material on purpose. Thus… m dashes.
presidentsday@reddit
Thank you. I hate that em-dashes are often a dead giveaway that something is likely written by A.I., especially since I’ve naturally used them for years and now have to intentionally remove them just to look more authentic.
Meister0fN0ne@reddit
My friends used to make fun of me for how frequently I would find an excuse for one before AI was a thing - I'll just point to them if I get accused of using it.
JimTheJerseyGuy@reddit
I will fight and die with you, brother!
brak-0666@reddit
I'd never even heard of an em dash until people started talking about ai using them. Never had cause to use one in my life.
Lazy_Tell_2288@reddit
Not giving up ANY OF IT
dreamyduskywing@reddit
You gave up a subject and punctuation right there though.
Lazy_Tell_2288@reddit
Interjections don’t require a subject; my bad for forgetting to include punctuation.
YuckyYetYummy@reddit
As a graphic designer the first thing I do is find and replace all the double spaces with single.
A huge faux pas.
o7_HiBye_o7@reddit
I was told it looks aggressive when I use punctuation (specifically periods) in text, it still makes me think twice every time I do.
Maurice_Foot@reddit
My kid brought that up 10 years ago. I told them to read more books, learn the rules of grammar before breaking them.
mzshowers@reddit
Agreed on all, although the em dash AI BS slays me! Give me back my em dash!
Scobus3@reddit
The Oxford comma is the training wheels of grammar. It’s completely unnecessary.
chrisfinazzo@reddit
I used to be two spaces as well, but slowly got used to one and found it didn’t make a difference.
I will defend the Oxford comma until my last breath.
ProblemLongjumping12@reddit
You literally have to put two spaces before the enter key if you want to go to the next line in a Reddit post/comment.
Like this.
jacobthellamer@reddit
I hate the long dash with a passion, I remember fighting msword. It was always changing my lovely short dashes. I am still bitter.
superjonk@reddit
Im still doing two spaces
Soggy_Porpoise@reddit
I'm with you in the Oxford comma. The rest just makes you old.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
Strong boomer energy in this thread.
Soggy_Porpoise@reddit
Agreed. I thought our generation was better than this but apparently not.
TheDudeFromOther@reddit
Do not ever drop to their level.
zzzkitten@reddit
Yup. The end.
dreamyduskywing@reddit
Don’t bring Oxford commas or other punctuation into this debate. There’s a purpose for Oxford commas, regardless of formatting.
RogerClyneIsAGod2@reddit
It's like muscle memory for me. I can't not do it. I learned it in 1980 & have been doing it ever since & I ain't stopping now.
lrdmelchett@reddit
When, almost always, I display my literacy in text people complain that I'm wordy.
They are morons.
Long live two spaces.
alles_en_niets@reddit
Except two spaces is outdated literacy.
AvocadoToastFailure@reddit
Im being aggressive towards my coworkers when I use a period.
Chimpbot@reddit
It depends on the context.
Folks frequently interpret periods at the end of sentences as being angry/cross/aggressive with text messages, so I'll omit them in stuff like texts or various messenger apps. In all other applications, however, I'll just use regular ol' proper grammar and punctuation.
Longjumping_Cod_9132@reddit
You are quite pretentious, supercilious and prolix.
DamarsLastKanar@reddit
alles_en_niets@reddit
Love a correct Oxford comma, zero interest in double spacing.
Cyberdork2000@reddit
This should be the only answer.
dsac@reddit
en dash 4 lyf yo
dimesinger@reddit
Em and en dashes have different typographical purposes, though. Use both as intended, IMO.
tdowg1@reddit
dont forget random semicolons! semi-colons need love too!;
butwhyisitso@reddit
I will type
SlapHappyDude@reddit
There's nothing wrong with em dashes. Like semi colons you probably shouldn't use 3-4 per paragraph.
vabrova@reddit
I will die on this hill with you.
RP_Bear@reddit
Finally, a person of culture!
MotherofaPickle@reddit
I was going to post this exact same stance.
This-Unit-1954@reddit
I’m almost 50 and lazy AF. When I found out as a kid that the Oxford comma was optional I dropped it like a glass of red wine on a white carpet (🤷🏻♂️). I don’t have to make one extra movement when typing? Hell yeah.
Bush-LeagueBushcraft@reddit
I agree with you, support you, and applaud you; I feel that way about semicolons.
Seven22am@reddit
I love the semicolon.
ActivelyLostInTarget@reddit
I feel like a dinosaur when I bust out that semicolon
Seven22am@reddit
My favorite piece of punctuation.
dishwasher_mayhem@reddit
Exactly. I have my Little Brown Book right here and if anyone gives me shit, I'll correct their fucking grammar.
Uhh_JustADude@reddit
I'm a prolific user because they fit well with my writing style and they're so easy on Mac—Option+Shift+hyphen!
stormcrow2112@reddit
This is basically me minus the two spaces. Just something that I never did.
bfume@reddit
viva la revelución!
ForThePosse@reddit
Double space to make a period on the phone. We still have the same habit lol.
Confident_Natural_42@reddit
I'm 48, and I had a typing class in school, but double spaces were *never* a thing. In fact, far less so in equal-space typewriter fonts than some dynamic fonts on the PC.
Feffies_Cottage@reddit
I'm an author and I can't deprogram myself of it. I've been doing it since learning on IBM Selectrics. So I'll write my novels and when I'm finished with my final rewrites, the first thing I do is run a find and replace and turn all my double-spaces into singles.
Old-Ad-64@reddit
I know I don't have to, but I am not going to stop.
OutaTime76@reddit
It's all muscle memory. The only time it matters to me is when I'm posting on something that limits how many characters I can use.
Nedstarkclash@reddit
Itskewldewdguy@reddit
Who’s putting two spaces after periods??
Instant_Dad_Bod@reddit
That's right, I am free. Free to use two spaces you sumbitch. Freedom Noises
SmoovyJ@reddit
I moved to 1 space when someone younger pointed out to me 10 years ago it’s no longer preferred and I looked it up and sure enough he was right.
It took me awhile to adjust as I lost SO MANY POINTS off my papers in HS and college, but now when I see 2 spaces I think “this person old af”
rocrom77@reddit
Similar story for me, but it was about 20 years ago that I switched to 1 space.
I did (and still do) a lot of writing and copy editing. The company I work for occasionally publishes articles written by management. First thing I do whenever I get the copy is to run a “replace all” to convert two spaces to one space.
They give me shit over it, but they’re trying to reach a younger demographic than themselves so I repeatedly tell them it makes them look really old. They don’t like it, but they concede and approve my edits. But they still include them every time. I think it’s their form of passive aggressive rebellion.
ErinBeezy@reddit
Sad part is, you listened to someone who was wildly incorrect 😭
HugeTheWall@reddit
Sorry but two has been incorrect for decades. Most of my life it has been 1 space and it still is.
SmoovyJ@reddit
Nope, sorry to break it to you. There was a switch in early 2000’s, and those of us who didn’t go to school during that time period (or write for a living and have it beaten out of us) missed the switch and keep doing it wrong, simple as that.
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/OneSpaceorTwo.html
KahBhume@reddit
At work, we have a mix of older and younger professionals. Doing a document review, a younger reviewer commented on the author using double spaces. I had to explain to them that double spaces was ingrained into any of us over 40. I was aware that the official guidance had changed, but another reviewer around my age was not convinced until we looked it up to confirm.
ThatDeuce@reddit
I am younger than 42, but now that I know this was a thing, I might just try it. Just because.
omegaphallic@reddit
I'm 46 and I never used typewriters only computers
SenseAndSaruman@reddit
I’m 42 and I learned to type on a typewriter and that’s the only time I used one.
ProudToBeAKraut@reddit
I'm a bit younger and I also learned to type on a mechanical typewriter. My mom had one for work-related stuff and I sometimes used it - that was before we had a computer. I got my first computer, a C64 a bit later but yea,h i didnt start writing on a keyboard.
jasonrubik@reddit
I'm 46, had a very old manual typewriter ( I wonder what ever happened to it) and I finally got my first computer, the C64, in 1992.
Blenderx06@reddit
40 and they taught us to double space in the COMPUTER lab lol.
Maurice_Foot@reddit
[grinds teeth]
IDigRollinRockBeer@reddit
I’m not 40 but I learned that in computer class also
SilentButDanny@reddit
Exactly. I never used a typewriter, but was still taught that 2 spaces go after a period. I always thought it was because just made sense and looked better, which I agreed with. And you can pry my second space after a period from my cold, dead hands. 😂
barters81@reddit
100% it looks better to have a double space.
space-to-bakersfield@reddit
They sure did, but I sure didn't listen.
ThePolemicist@reddit
??? How is that possible?
I'm about 43, and we had to type final papers on typewriters in elementary school.
omegaphallic@reddit
Honestly until a certain age you did your work using hand writing, the computer was mostly a reward for fun at school until highschool, although I had a computer at home. I've never used a type writer in my life. But I'm Canadian, so perhaps that accounts for the difference.
likegolden@reddit
I'm younger than you and definitely took typing on a typewriter.
ErinBeezy@reddit
Damn really?! Not even as a kid?? I’m 42 and we used them a lot as kids, for both fun and schoolwork.
Ghoulie_Marie@reddit
I'm 46 and I learned to type on a mechanical typewriter. I think the activation force for the keys was about 5 lbs
omegaphallic@reddit
Damn
SenseAndSaruman@reddit
It’s so engrained I have a hard time not doing it.
brickbaterang@reddit
Whatever dude
FishInk@reddit
I was a Two Spacer until I sent my first novel off for edits. My first edit was going back through the book and making all the double spaces into singles.
Now I only do the Apple shortcut on my phone but everywhere else is singles spaces after periods
Furious-Shores@reddit
Pds50011pmb2@reddit
Spot goes the weasel.
ouch_that_hurts_@reddit
It bugs me when I put a period before an ending quotation mark and then space twice. The device puts another period. Grr
mslauren2930@reddit
Force of habit. I am sorry.
unibrowking@reddit
You could be like my old boss and do 3, 4, 5 spaces. He’d switch it up within one sentence. Pure chaos.
envoy_ace@reddit
My OCD demands it.
Dense-Consequence-70@reddit
I’m 57 and I’ve always hated the two space thing. Wasn’t necessary with typewriters either.
TacoBMMonster@reddit
Why did we do that?
vikegirl@reddit
Hey! I like that extra space. It comforts me… dammit.
Mark47n@reddit
You can’t tell me what to do! I’ll put a tab and triple space!
BoneDaddy1973@reddit
I’m keeping the ellipsis too god dammit.
KevG29@reddit
Two spaces. Always. It’s good to have standards in life…
BluebirdDense1485@reddit
Most modern word processors do the extra space for you.
brak-0666@reddit
One space. It's not a typewriter. Though it did take me a while to unlearn.
Original-Version5877@reddit
Okay. I'm gonna keep doing it.
enginerdsean@reddit
Two spaces!!! I just cannot help myself from breaking the IBM Selectric typewriter habits I learned in 1986 typing class. Fuck all you youngins if you have heartburn about this. I just doesn't matter. You cannot hardly even see the difference in documents these days and I think it still helps with readability. FFS.
Oxford comma is a must. Look at all the god damned funny memes about how eliminating it fucks things up royally.
Alternative-Pen6451@reddit
2 spaces forever!
FlowerofMountains@reddit
It's been haaaaaaaard for me to let that one go, lol.
pizzaduh@reddit
My android phones have been adding a period and space with the double tap for too long for me to ever go back now.
InevitableStruggle@reddit
I. Don’t. Care.
Only1Skrybe@reddit
Fuck it. I'ma put 3.
BoozeTheCat@reddit
My boss will idly tap Space Bar after he finishes a sentence while he's thinking about how he wants to say the next thing. I normally don't say much but every now and then he'll ask me to review something with obviously large gaps between certain sentences and you can always tell heb either edited it a bunch of times and didn't clean it up or was very particular about how he phrased the next sentence.
HeyWhatsItToYa@reddit
Only 3? That's hardly anything. You have to use a minimum of 5 to make things readable. Sometimes, I double space things and use 10.
Mock_Frog@reddit
You could put them before the period .
Only1Skrybe@reddit
😂
SupahRad@reddit
You are a chaos demon and I rebuke thee! 😂🤣😭
tomqvaxy@reddit
This I can get behind. Very, very far behind.
Conscious-Ad-9450@reddit
Two spaces. Til I die.
Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit
I'm surprised at the number of people who still double-space. I (43) also grew up with the double-space but I broke myself of the habit. I type a lot and publish in scholarly journals where the double-space won't fly, though.
CafeMilk25@reddit
I work in technical documentation and dropped the 2nd space over 20 years ago when the rule changed.
YuckyYetYummy@reddit
The rule changed long before that
CafeMilk25@reddit
Allow me to clarify… when I became aware of the rule change.
FirePaddler@reddit
Yes, exactly. I'm 42 and I was also surprised when I learned it wasn't correct anymore at my first writing job in my 20s, but it's not. This is simply not a debate for those of us who write or edit for a living.
tagehring@reddit
I'm 43, and I think I stopped using it in college. To the point where whenever this comes up, I am reminded that I was taught two in keyboarding in the '90s.
HugeTheWall@reddit
Same but 45. I stopped this in the late 90s in high school. I feel like I barely did 2 spaces maybe 10 years of my life at most, but we rarely formally typed things back then, only major assignments. Single space has dominated the vast majority of my life.
Two spaces just gives ugly rivers of white & makes the text feel so disjointed. It almost feels like someone is pressing the tab button. It's so close to typing in all caps, and ...using ....many dots...as commas...
Polarbearstein@reddit
Same, I work on government documents/contacts, and it is single spaced for us as well. It was double spaced when I first started though.
lassie86@reddit
Yeah, I’m 44 and grew up with the double space. It was around 20 years ago that I realized from my younger friends that single space was the way to go these days and changed at that point.
Apart-Consequence881@reddit
I didn't realize single space was the rule until around 2013. I was also indenting new paragraphs until \~2009.
ThinkFree@reddit
I learned double space at typing class in high school but immediately stopped doing it after those classes. Single space is just more efficient.
SupahRad@reddit
I’ll be 42 in a couple months and I completely agree with you. I also grew up learning 2 spaces after a period. I don’t publish in scholarly journals, but I am a graphic designer and the 2 spaces makes my head explode because it looks awful.
JasonQG@reddit
I thought it would be hard to switch, but it was surprisingly easy
OshetDeadagain@reddit
I've tried to let it go - I can't. It's a cleaner break between sentences, and leaving only one space just feels... Wrong.
Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit
It looks tacky and I automatically assume anyone who does it is a boomer. No books, webpages, anything has two spaces after a period. Do you not read? You didn't even put two spaces after "can't" in your own reply. 95% of the people replying that they still use two spaces are actually doing it in these replies.
OshetDeadagain@reddit
Ouch, so aggressive! Gen X and at least elder millenials also learned to double-space, thank you very much! Fun fact - there is 2 spaces after 'can't' in my previous comment. Here, too. I don't think you're as good at spotting it as you seem to think.
Though now I am going to have to go and look through all of my books and see if any of them use it and check by age!
Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit
I was born in 1982 and learned double-space, but I broke myself of the habit, thank you very much. It's ridiculous looking and unprofessional.
The reason you can't tell on Reddit is that Reddit fixes your outdated formatting, thank you very. Your spacing looks exactly the same as mine.
OshetDeadagain@reddit
LumpyJump6091@reddit
I'm 44 and same. Probably 15 years ago, I noticed the change, looked up what the correct way was, and switched. It was tough for a couple of days, but now it's just second nature and double spaces look antiquated.
dallyan@reddit
Same. I’m 45 and did a lot of grad school including a social sciences PhD and we were taught just one space.
Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit
Honestly, from looking through these replies it seems anyone who didn't go to college, or beyond, still use two spaces. I guarantee none of them do any writing for their professions.
PublicFurryAccount@reddit
I'm 42 and I dropped the habit the very moment it was no longer required of me.
captmonkey@reddit
I always hated double spacing after a period so as soon as it was no longer required, I stopped using it. I grew up using AOL chatrooms and IRC. I sure wasn't double spacing in there.
Beelzebozo26@reddit
I had totally forgotten double spacing and I'm 47. I don't remember when I stopped or why, but it's easily been over twenty years. I work with more technical writing, so maybe that has something to do with it.
alles_en_niets@reddit
I suppose double spacing is mostly used by people who don’t really write that much (or at least not at work), otherwise someone would’ve corrected them somewhere along the last few decades.
Spartan04@reddit
Similar story here. I grew up with it and it was a nice trick to add a little extra length to my papers in school. Sometime in college, can’t remember when, I broke myself of that habit and I no longer do it.
Some people I work with who are older than me still do it though. If I’m working on a collaborative document with one of them and I have the last edit I usually use find/replace to remove the double spaces so it’s consistent throughout. I also think it looks weird with them.
Flyin_Bryan@reddit
I was cocky about not double spacing and using tabs, unlike the olds - then a millennial told me I’m not supposed to do an extra return between paragraphs. Apparently there is some setting for spacing for after paragraphs. Now I feel like an old.
UnadvancedDegree@reddit
I broke myself of the habit last year. Single space everywhere.
well_shit_oh_no@reddit
Same exact thing here. I'm reading this almost confused because I don't even remember when I made the switch to agree with modern format. I'm pretty sure we were still taught double space in my high school keyboarding class.
Dependent-Ad-3859@reddit
Whos getting mad at people double spacing? Go find something to do.
Lesh_Philling@reddit
But a double space adds the period for you now.
GenWRXr@reddit
Dear friends younger than 42. Fuck off.🖕🏻
Sad-Satisfaction-207@reddit
Dark-Perversions@reddit
Only 2?
urfriendflicka@reddit
But when I put 2 spaces, the first letter of the next sentence gets capitalized automatically. Also, good luck breaking all thos years of muscle memory.
Fahlulah@reddit
The old rule vs new rule of single vs double space is specifically for computers. Hand writing still needs/requires the extra space too.
And, Oxford Comma for LIFE 🤘🤘 It can be the deciding factor in a court case. Look it up.
jasonrubik@reddit
My main thing is the space before an exclamation point at the end of a sentence. I want to make sure that you see that damn inflection !
chrisschini@reddit
I feel personally attacked.
thethirdthird@reddit
Used two spaces for a long time but somewhere in about 2013ish I realized I needed to unlearn it asap, so I did
Independent-Gene7737@reddit
No…
98983x3@reddit
This is just ppl getting lazy. The results is a slightly less grokkable written language.
violetwandering@reddit
They will pry my two spaces from my cold dead hands!!!!
Lazy_Red_7678@reddit
If I type on my phone it’s one space because if you double click the space bar it will automatically put the period and the space. But if I’m writing emails I use two spaces.
Runningman787@reddit
I remember the 2 spaces thing, but I never did it. However, I will use the oxford comma until the day I die.
scorpionewmoon@reddit
If you hit space twice on an iPhone it automatically puts a period.
LSherwood1024@reddit
I’m 43. I don’t have to do anything I don’t wanna anymore but the 2 spaces stands 💁🏻♀️💁🏻♀️
thegreatcerebral@reddit
I’ve tried but my muscle memory just goes.
rockstar1083@reddit
One.
All_Hail_Hynotoad@reddit
One. I, former copy editor, will die on this hill.
natertheman1980@reddit
Typewriter or Microsoft Word doc? Report writing as a cop for 20 years and I had plenty of supervisors that were picky about report writing. My Kids are still taught for reports in school and typing. Texting is not the same as report writing.
FirePaddler@reddit
I'm embarrassed by people my age who still think two spaces is correct or that there's any legitimate debate about it. I've been a professional writer and editor for about 15 years, and in my world this is not a question. Two spaces is wrong and I spend a lot of time removing it from things that old people write. Usually, using two spaces goes hand in hand with being a poor writer in other ways.
jmil1080@reddit
Using two spaces is unnecessary and, in most cases, grammatically incorrect. It's not a huge deal to use two spaces in informal writing, but you should only be using one space for any formal writing. You also shouldn't be teaching anyone in your life to use two spaces. All the major style guides stipulate that one space is correct, so you could get flagged for that in formal writing.
Joe_Kangg@reddit
I might consider it if you weren't so snarky. I'm free? Like punctuation was imprisoning me. If,you're annoyed at my two spaces, you can blame this asshole, I'm considering three.
TannerDonovan@reddit
Two spaces and Oxford comma till the day I die
ErzaDarkchylde@reddit
Juls_Santana@reddit
Dear Mr. Gorilla,
Tell that to all the auto-correct software that adds 2 spaces!
I never do 2 spaces, just 1.
FigNewton555@reddit
I gave up that second space long ago. Double tap space to end a sentence on my phone trained me off of it quickly.
Zombull@reddit
If I'm writing something meant to be read by humans, it's usually in software that handles the formatting, like a word processor or a web browser. Unless explicitly designed to preserve them, multiple spaces typed into a web app get condensed anyway. So double-spacing after a period is just a waste.
Slowmaha@reddit
Still fight it every day
bob_law_blaw@reddit
One space goddammit.
6leaf@reddit
1 space. 2 spaces looks so bizarre. I did use a typewriter as a kid.
dogtor_howl@reddit
As your friendly neighborhood editor, if you include two, I’m ctrl+f-ing to find and remove one.
tagehring@reddit
This. I do this with all of the documentation my Boomer boss writes.
Staggerlee024@reddit
Booooo!
dogtor_howl@reddit
😂😂😂
everythinghappensto@reddit
And it's far easier to rapidly correct 2 spaces (or 3, or even 4+ from careless contributors) after periods down to 1, than to any other number.
VintageLover79@reddit
Seriously, as an unfriendly editor, these people can control-f themselves! Love em dashes and Oxford commas, though.
Glittering-Grab7547@reddit
Editor here ~ agreed.
Dear-Discussion2841@reddit
Ooh, good tip. I often help a Gen X friend edit their writing and I didn't know I could ctrl+f for a formatting issue like that! (Clearly not a professional editor or typesetter, just someone who supports good writing...)
dogtor_howl@reddit
That’s a good friend!
Dear-Discussion2841@reddit
She is a good friend to me! ❤️ Hopefully we all have at least a couple of those.
Few-Helicopter-3413@reddit
Same. And editors younger than me have admitted that they immediately reject submissions with two spaces because they know the writer is “old” and therefore their voice isn’t desirable in a publication.
Fair? Absolutely not. True? Unfortunately yes. Drop the extra space.
TJBurkeSalad@reddit
Me too. Modern word processors increase the gap after a period automatically. Two spaces is instantly recognizable as a typo.
itorrey@reddit
I learned to type at school in 1995 and I was taught two spaces and also to use either my left or right thumb to hit the space bar depending on what letters I was typing.
I thought this was a stupid convention so I just ignored it, used my right thumb 100% of the time and when questioned why I’m not double spacing I told the teacher that the software does it properly for me.
dogtor_howl@reddit
Digital fonts also fit letters together (that is, adjust the kerning) more precisely than was possible when setting actual physical type, so one space creates enough of a visual stop. Two spaces were useful when each letter had a bit more space around it.
Former-Wish-8228@reddit
I hate you, neighborhood editor. Where I work, they also force a high-school level writing style for technical subjects. I abhor and despise that.
dogtor_howl@reddit
I hope someday you can work through your editorial trauma. 😂
Lava-Chicken@reddit
Thank you!
NotRadTrad05@reddit
You can have my 2 spaces and Oxford comma when you pry them from my cold dead hands.
wafair@reddit
I thought the Oxford comma was officially back
tagehring@reddit
It's a timeless classic, it never went out of style.
dimesinger@reddit
Don't call it a comeback, it's been here for years.
tagehring@reddit
Cold, dead, and lifeless hands.
FTFY.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
Nobody wants to take the Oxford comma away.
alles_en_niets@reddit
One of those two is still correct to use!
bythebeardofzeus_@reddit
I felt this in my soul.
jjmawaken@reddit
Phoniceau@reddit
Exactly! ^
tagehring@reddit
One. Two is superfluous and an affectation at this point.
No-Valuable3975@reddit
I've been using two spaces since the late 20th century. It's so ingrained in me now I can't stop.
ewileycoy@reddit
We also don’t need to use monospaced fonts but I do, just let people enjoy things
Mikrobious@reddit
My 6th grade keyboarding teacher walked around with a yardstick and slapped the back of your seat or the end of the table if we were caught peeking under the keyboard cover. The trauma is everlasting and so is the education. Two spaces are seared into my entire existence.
DadJokes7621@reddit
I’m in graphic design. One space.
Getting copy from clients that has two spaces, paragraph tabs, and extra paragraph returns involves a clean up process. Afterward, I can increase the tracking/kerning between the period and first letter if it looks like it needs it, which is less than .1% of the time.
Webhead24-7@reddit
ThePolemicist@reddit
I was taught to leave two spaces in elementary and junior high. By high school, they were telling us it's no longer necessary. I still did it until I was in community college and was copy-editing for the paper. The articles couldn't have that double space between sentences, so I stopped doing it.
Postulative@reddit
I don’t understand what language you are talking about!
ComprehensiveAd8815@reddit
I’ll do what I damn well please Thankyou very much. 😜
brawnburgundy@reddit
One space, always. Computers compensate for the two space thing. How is this even up for discussion.
TheCIAiscomingforyou@reddit
You can have them when you pry them from my cold dead fingers
elroyonline@reddit
You’re not my dad
Genuine907@reddit
Two.
End of sentence, period, space space.
Always.
meleaguance@reddit
Two spaces after a period has nothing to do with a typewriter. it is just more pleasing. Tech people said to stop doing it because it would save on memory, but now they are building huge data centers for the questionably accurate search engines they call AI. So I feel fine about setting my sentences farther apart.
Traditional_Rush_622@reddit
I refuse to participate in the dumbing down of our species and will use two spaces until I die.
MarrisaDC@reddit
BUT I CAN’T STOP. HELP MEEEEEEEE
ess-5@reddit
I double space only since my smartphone turns it into a full stop. Otherwise, not something I grew up with (1978 vintage) and don't see the point.
Kahari_Karh@reddit
If a double space after the period not required anymore, then why did they make tapping the space at twice on the phone a period?
Competitive_Ad_8215@reddit
One space. I was a journalism student for a while and two spaces were forbidden because they wasted precious type space.
Special_Life_8261@reddit
I’ll be in a box in the ground before I quit my 2 spaces
Spaceboy779@reddit
Muscle memory. I do it without knowing and have to backspace. Yes I'm very aware it's unnecessary, but there's fuckall I can do about it, lol. It's ingrained.
jabber1990@reddit
when I was in HS we had a teacher who made us do this, my 10th grade keyboarding teacher made us do this, failure to do so resulted in a failed assignment
she actually made us go into Word and turn it off...when you're actually going into the actual software and making your students change the software to fit YOUR narrative, maybe its possible you are wrong
we as students all fucking hated her, which sucks because a good number of us had her husband as our middle school principal and we liked him
jabber1990@reddit
the funny thing is this was in 2006, and so EVERYTHING we learned in that class was out of date not even a year later
Bloo_Orchid@reddit
My right thumb says differently after 30 years of typing. The muscle memory wants what the muscle memory wants.
jadethebard@reddit
2 when I'm writing an actual document, phone typing I've adapted to 1. It feels too cramped when writing something beyond a social media post though.
SeaWeedSkis@reddit
Tell my phone to stop putting a space after the period and I'll stop ending up with an accidental extra space.
evilcatminion@reddit
I don’t know any xennials that use two spaces.
BrotherNatureNOLA@reddit
No! I will take points off if anyone turns in a paper with only 1 space. The point was to make something easier to read. It let the audience see the upcoming pause in ideas, and helped with comprehension. That typewriter excuses asinine and shows that this person has never used one. They really did not care if you used one space or two as you were typing. The shortening from two spaces to one came when Google and Microsoft realized that if they stole a space from every period, the amalgamation of saved data space was phenomenal, which saved the money in transmitting emails and saving documents online.
knotalady@reddit
One space. Learned 2 in highschool keyboarding, but after returning to college years later, I learned it was actually 1 space.
SleepLivid988@reddit
I put 2 spaces when typing on a computer. But my phone puts one space after a period automatically so I just roll with it.
CherryFit3224@reddit
It’s not freedom. It’s muscle memory. You can’t just change. Blurg.
sandsonik@reddit
I did two spaces for years. Only managed to stop in the past few years. I do take issue with the original screenshot though - there's nothing "freeing" about being told that the way you've been doing something for 40 years is suddenly considered wrong and that you should stop.
The budget's so tight we can't even afford an extra space, I guess!
autocosm@reddit
In typing class, they made me do double spaces. Then in Newspaper, only 4 years later, I learned that the word processor handled the spacing and I unlearned double spacing on the spot. This was 30 years ago and I've never looked back.
tinyrabbitsandsuch@reddit
I have never in my life used 2 spaces
Kade7596@reddit
One. One space. Two spaces was how my mom typed. Because she was raised on typewriters. I was raised on the Internet where double-spacing seems neurotic and unhinged.
Famous-Return-8118@reddit
AP says one; so say I. AP is Bible. Me journalist, lolllll
cherrylpk@reddit
I use two and always will. I’m dyslexic and the double space after a period tells my brain to full stop while reading whereas a single space signals a quick pause.
elshizzo@reddit
I remember being young and thinking how stupid it was to have to do two spaces after. So I was happy when this change happened
vvFreebirdvv@reddit
I’ve never heard of this two spaces nonsense. I could never, and I’m 43.
Big_Focus_6059@reddit
2
catsareniceDEATH@reddit
I am 40 years old, I was in my very early-teens when computers became standard in many homes, I learned to type on my mum's electronic typewriter. I've spent at least 20 years putting 2 spaces after a full stop and I'm not about to stop now.
😹😹
Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit
You only used a single space after the period in your reply.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
They can put all the spaces they want after the period, it won't matter. Browsers have been rendering however many spaces in a row as one space since forever. The whole two space thing became moot once web browsers and proportional fonts became a thing, which is to say decades ago. Some people just can't adjust to change.
Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit
I. Don't. Think. That's. True.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
How'd you do that? I added five spaces there just now and it collapses to one space. What client are you using?
Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit
I'm on the DDG browser on my iPhone. No cheating going on here.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
Ok here goes. Does DDG replace additional spaces with another type of space?
GrunchWeefer@reddit
And does Chrome? Let's see...
Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit
Here's what I see
https://imgur.com/a/E4VjxVb
GrunchWeefer@reddit
Also what's funny is I pulled out my laptop to view this source and the non-mobile web version doesn't replace spaces. I just put like 10 spaces between this sentence and the one before it and you won't see them.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
Yeah I see that, too. When I go to view source it shows that it's replaced some of the spaces with the HTML code for a space for some reason. Native app doesn't do that when you type into there. It just keeps them as spaces which renders however many spaces as one.
catsareniceDEATH@reddit
You're right, I did, and I do! 😳🙀😹😹
Thank you. I guess I think of typing as computers etc, and phones, especially smart phones, as completely different things! 😹
Early-Evening-Soup@reddit
I hate the 2 spaces. And almost always when I review someone’s work that uses 2 spaces they mix and match. Some sentences with 2 and others with 1. Drives me nuts
KittenKnitter@reddit
I write how I learned in school in the 1970s-80s. Tough shit for those who choose to get bent over this.
_ataraxia__@reddit
I will go to my grave using two spaces.
raisedbytelevisions@reddit
Altruistic_Hippo2@reddit
Sorry. It’s hardwired into the programming now.
dspreemtmp@reddit
I've been typing a style for 30ish something years. I won't relearn.
Plus in writing paragraphs I think it's easier to read in seeing where there is clear separation in structure. But eh..
Alert-Writer-6595@reddit
Depends on the Format.
TMFPB@reddit
Sorry I have to do two!!
rosemerry77@reddit
Still doing it! Don’t care if the “rule” has changed.
CertainAd7317@reddit
Don’t you worry about how many spaces I’m using, you space hoarder !
Junior-Discount2743@reddit
1 space, but you can take my Oxford comma from my cold dead hands.
ThunderSnow-@reddit
I had the thought once that it would be an easy way for teachers to catch a child's parents "helping" them with their home work.
VisualDetail9848@reddit
So nw ic tlk lk ths ok thnk;) 👍👍👍
ErinBeezy@reddit
College profs demanded it.
FurryIrishFury@reddit
Team 1 space and Oxford comma
mradentz@reddit
Never.
ton3capon3@reddit
I have Word set up that way because I’m genX.
TimeFig0@reddit
2 spaces til i die
IDigRollinRockBeer@reddit
I haven’t done that in decades. Forgot that was ever a thing.
ZookeepergamePrior87@reddit
I’m 41, and am not writing papers lol! Who’s writing papers out there? Lol. It’s all texts and emails, and auto correct at its best.
ExpressDevelopment41@reddit
I add a space everytime someone says not to. I'm starting to lose track.
Abraxas_1408@reddit
Why would I change how I space after periods and inconvenience myself after doing it the way I’ve been doing it for years? It doesn’t change the readability of my texts. If it just annoys you, I’ll go ahead and file it under not my fucking problem.
Deepcoma_53@reddit
Damn, when sending work email I still do that shit. Am 41.
Savy-Dreamer@reddit
I’m a one space gal! Born 1980!
theOnlyDaive@reddit
Never did it in the first place. Also, fuck cursive. Did that shit for about a school year and just stopped after that.
Proxiimity@reddit
Please don't be stubborn like the boomers and get this right people!
_plays_in_traffic_@reddit
its always and forever will be two spaces. theres a reason that when you hit two spaces it will give you a period and a space on a phone. then its one space, but i typed two. i cant be bothered with changing it depending on what im on. i will always type two spaces
capthazelwoodsflask@reddit
Is it really that big of a deal? Is that extra space really that noticeable? Or is this really just some lame ass generational thing like complaining that young people can’t read cursive?
MelaninTitan@reddit
Fuck. Every. Last. One. Of. You. Lot!!! 💀
NothingAndNow111@reddit
One now, but I often have to delete a space. It's reflex to use two!
Positively_Eric@reddit
I graduated high school in 1996 and was never taught to put two spaces after a period. Is it a regional thing?
irishpwr46@reddit
I put two spaces after the last word because then it automatically adds a period.
Which-Chemical-820@reddit
What about ‘word / word’. What is up with the spaces around the slash? It drives me crazy!
2HappySundays@reddit
Two spaces looks weird on a computer screen. As a former proofreader, it drives me nuts. Please stop.
incredibleninja@reddit
It took me so long to unlearn this
dudebomb@reddit
Getting into web development so early on kind of broke me of the budding habit (talking high school). You can double space all you want in HTML, it's gonna render one.
congeal@reddit
Only one space. Free your mind!
tracefact@reddit
I switched to one space 10-15 years ago. Took a minute to get used to, but now it’s the way. I am elder xennial and I coauthor documents quite a bit with a younger xennial coworker who double-spaces. While I don’t care that that’s her preference, it does get annoying that one of us will have to edit the other’s spacing for final copy.
Apart-Consequence881@reddit
Same. I felt like I entered a different universe when I found out you only need a single space. This was around 2012. I was also still indenting new paragraphs until \~2009.
DenialNode@reddit
I worked in web design in the late aughts. It was law then to only use one space. Ever since, i have only used one space in all forms of media and it seems antiquated to have two. i obsessively remove all the extra spaces in my coworkers work.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
I mean in web design you can use all the spaces you want and it will never matter unless you start adding /
akaBookHuntress@reddit
You will take my 2 spaces AND my oxford comma out of my cold dead hands....
stevemmhmm@reddit
Two
umbridledfool@reddit
You mean we're in deep shit with our manager if we don't.
Professional-Tie-696@reddit
You can pry my 2 spaces, my conviction that ChatGPT makes everyone dumber, and my Oxford comma out of my cold, dead hands.
clumsylycanthrope@reddit
It was easy, I'm not so "get off my lawn" old that I can't take out one extra spacebar. This 6-7 bullshit tho.
gooch_norris_@reddit
Two spaces just looks better to me
AdjectiveNoun1234567@reddit
You are objectively wrong.
shmehdit@reddit
20-day-old troll account
GrunchWeefer@reddit
They're not wrong, though. Most style guides say you should use just one space, now. It's antiquated. Modern word processors flag it as an error.
Vilavek@reddit
This thread is fascinating because the only person I ever knew who used 2 spaces was my grandma who admittedly was a typist most of her life. I had no idea there were so many people my age who also do this!
It always felt completely unnecessary to me to use more than 1 space like I was breaking some rule or something 🤔
GrunchWeefer@reddit
I definitely was double spacing back in the day but stopped as soon as I learned it wasn't necessary anymore. That was well over 20 years ago.
Roderto@reddit
I always use one. However in my workplace it’s a huge mish-mash. Sometimes people do a combination of one and two in the same document.
Two spaces was important in the days of typewriters, since kerning wasn’t always as precise. But in the age of computers, it’s really unnecessary.
Steerider@reddit
Who cares?
WPGMeMeMe@reddit
It’ll be a cold day in hell before I put one space after a period. Lazy kids.
chocki305@reddit
It helps when reading.
As the extra space helps with making the start of the new sentence. It also helps when people don't capitalize the first letter.
As for "from the typewriter era". While true, it isn't the whole issue. We would have to discuss monospaced fonts. That is fonts where each letter has the same width regardless of space used by the character. Most noticeable in letters "W", "M", "A" vs "l" or "i".
Using two spaces ensures that enough space is present.
As for those who cry about it. Fuck em. 2 spaces 4 life yall.
ThinkFree@reddit
Yikes, this comment section has too many pearl clutching boomers
GuinevereMorgann@reddit
I'm 56F. I took my first typing class in school when I was 14. So, I've been putting two spaces after a period for over 42 years. It is not a choice anymore. It's simply not possible for me to only type one space after a period.
I also can't look down at the keyboard when typing. It messes me up since we were taught on typewriters that had the letters on the keys painted over with white paint. There was a big poster at the front of the room showing where the keys are (which was rolled up during tests so we couldn't see it).
Just remember, kids -- the generation coming up after you is going to make fun of things you do, too. Luckily, I'm Gen X, and don't really care. I mean, I'll take the time to try to explain to the Little Ones why we do what we do. But, they can listen or not. I don't give a shit.
Lanracie@reddit
Its easier to tell sentences apart if you use 2 spaces. It costs nothing to do so why not make things more legible? Its kind of dumb to stop actually.
vidvicious@reddit
If you want to go to the next line on Reddit, however…
Fabulous-South-9551@reddit
I don’t want to re-teach myself to type. 2 spaces for me and whoever reads my electronic communications can just deal.
ChiefBroady@reddit
One. Always.
cbkris3@reddit
It’s still 2. I’ll fight with a poison tipped spear against anyone who says otherwise.
SupahRad@reddit
It’s 1 space you heathens. 😂 Sorry but as a graphic designer, the 2 spaces is an eyesore. Computer fonts are created to be readable with only one space after the period. I was also taught to use 2 waaaaaay back in the day when I had typing class, but it’s been 1 space for over 2 decades now.
Grundle95@reddit
I don’t have to do anything other than keep my kid clothed and fed and die some day, but there’s still a lot of shit I do by choice
El-Royhab@reddit
I was taught two spaces in 4th grade, thought it was stupid because none of the books I read had a double space, and so I never did it.
cabanners@reddit
I haven’t used 2 spaces since college! I’ve only ever noticed people older than me doing 2 spaces. And if I’m editing copy for them, I remove the 2nd space always 😅
19Charger@reddit
anonmygoodsir@reddit
It wasn't for the typewriter era. In the not so distant 2010s my college english class reqired double spaces after a period.
aRealPanaphonics@reddit
I used to fight the system with just 1 space because I had a dot matrix printer well into 1998 and 2 spaces looked way too big.
C10Cruiser@reddit
Still better for adhd and or dyslexic folks
TheMadDaddy@reddit
You only needed double space on a typewriter. I'm 45, not 65.
smarterthaneverytwo@reddit
Just saved me so much time
noonesaidityet@reddit
Zero spaces.How about that?
ElderberryDry9083@reddit
It is for sure 1 space now. I still sometimes will double space after a period for years of habit 😞
ButterscotchWhole163@reddit
I can't help it 🤣🤣🤣🤣
geek_fire@reddit
Nothing makes me want to use two spaces more than the people who feel the need to evangelize for one.
Harleen_Quinnzel777@reddit
Nope...not gonna happen. Two spaces till I die.
very-regular-3@reddit
2
Mangos28@reddit
There is nothing to discuss. The statement is correct
YaBoyTarkus@reddit
I space as I please.
mosc47@reddit
I have been re-training myself to do 1 space for the last 25 years, and only succeed at not hitting 2 spaces about 57% of the time.
shrikelet@reddit
Secret third option: it doesn't matter at all.
ChickenArise@reddit
I tried to stop double-spacing, now it's random.
LtPowers@reddit
It certainly affects readability. Of course it matters.
Canacarirose@reddit
This is the correct option.
I wasn’t forced to start using two spaces after a sentence until into junior high on word processors because it was, “the proper way to end a sentence in English” per APA or MLA or whatever.
Being neurodivergent, this arbitrary bullshit with no explanation of why or the history behind why this was “the Proper Way” pissed me off that I would take all the point deductions for not having double spacing.
I use the space double-tap much more now that it puts a period in for me.
Placements of commas and other in-sentence punctuation is much more important in communication; “Let’s eat Grandma!” Vs. “Let’s eat, Grandma!”
Nobody_Important@reddit
Definitely don’t do this on your resume if you are at all concerned with age discrimination, it’s known to be an easy way to weed out older applicants.
wosmo@reddit
For most uses it genuinely doesn't. I mean, websites don't render double-spaces without putting some serious effort into it, so all the comments here espousing the importance of the spacing, are being rendered with single-spaces.
hiplobonoxa@reddit
it does if you’re trying to hit an arbitrary length limit on a writing assignment. those little guys can add up!
modulus801@reddit
For better results, switch to a fixed-width font like courier new.
LH99@reddit
ew gross. please don't
hiplobonoxa@reddit
also make all the spaces and punctuation marks one font size bigger than the text. also increase margins by one tenth of an inch. also adjust line spacing from 2 to 2.1.
modulus801@reddit
Altering the font size of punctuation sounds like a huge pain. At that point, you're probably better off just adding another sentence.
Giving_Dad_Advice@reddit
There is a quick hack for it but I can't remember the specifics.
hiplobonoxa@reddit
it’s an advanced find and replace feature. 😉
ponyXpres@reddit
This guy essays.
modulus801@reddit
Clever
jjmawaken@reddit
You could probably make a macro that does all of those functions and employ it when you are short in length
oskich@reddit
Laziness is the mother of invention 😁
hiplobonoxa@reddit
hey! we work hard to work less!
oskich@reddit
Well, this is what kick-started our generation's computer skills. Take that boomers! 😁
modulus801@reddit
Smarter not harder.
oskich@reddit
"find & replace"
modulus801@reddit
... with style. I thought I was pretty savy with Word, but I would never have thought about that.
oskich@reddit
That is ancient knowledge passed down from lazy primary school pupils in the early 90's 😁
oskich@reddit
Haha, I'm getting flashbacks from late night assignments in primary school 😂
SojournerWeaver@reddit
yes! I never shared this secret in college because I thought if too many people did it they would change the rules. Now I tell everyone lol.
modulus801@reddit
Lol, same. You could sometimes also get away with tweaking the margins.
Uhh_JustADude@reddit
Oh please, rookie mistake. Even back in the '90s savvy teachers knew how to bypass cheat settings: they just copied and pasted the document body into a new RTF or text document, or Word Doc if they knew how to paste without formatting. Settings like 5% wider kerning, 1.05 line spacing, double spaces, tighter margins, different fonts which printed bigger for a given size, &tc. only worked on the oldest luddites or most gullible rubes. You don't think those teachers didn't share notes in the break room?
hiplobonoxa@reddit
who was submitting digital assignments in the 90s?
oskich@reddit
We did that in High School in the late 90's (on floppy disk ofc), before that it was all paper. There may or may not have been a floppy collection of computer viruses aimed for the school's computers floating around in class 😁
hiplobonoxa@reddit
there’s a certain organizational charm to that, although i’m not certain that it would be more efficient than paper.
oskich@reddit
That's why you handed in your assignment on paper 😁
Uhh_JustADude@reddit
My English and History teachers, except the really old ones, always demanded a soft copy of the original document, just to check. Had a lot of classmates have to redo whole term papers!
RainbowBriteGlasses@reddit
This is literally the only case to be made for two spaces in this day and age.
Airheart006@reddit
38 here and I’ll 2 space until I DIE. Same with the Oxford comma.
Airheart006@reddit
Over my dead body
tomqvaxy@reddit
One. I may be old but I see no reason to be proud of fearing change. We don't use typewriters so we literally don't need to do this any longer. Also, if your job hunting literally don't do this because you'll look like an idiot. It's sincerely considered wrong at this point.
MalWinchester@reddit
You'll take my two spaces after a period from my cold, dead hands.
Impossible-Money7801@reddit
I’m 42 and double spaces are for 90 year olds.
Ecstatic_Business363@reddit
You ain’t my boss.
timberlyfawnflowers@reddit
My body won't stop.
Old_Suggestions@reddit
2 spaces 4l, unless character limits become an issue.
Tedmilk@reddit
42 here. Always used a single space after a period.
Elethuir@reddit
That is true I talk to the youth about it often. I even was like when did that change as a rule? I had to ask an English teacher friend of mine lol
Stressed_Out_12@reddit
1 space !!! The typewriter thing is correct. I stopped doing two spaces in college 20 years ago.
TaquitoLaw@reddit
I do it because it's required at work and that habit bleeds over
AdjectiveNoun1234567@reddit
Where do you work that incorrect grammar is required?
TaquitoLaw@reddit
Double spacing isn't grammar.
jevring@reddit
One space. This two space fascism is the realm of misguided English teachers.
Helo7606@reddit
Yeah, no one needs to tell me how to type. Especially people who can't write in cursive nor read an analog clock.
Annepackrat@reddit
YOU WILL PRY MY TWO SPACES FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!!!
Inevitable_Channel18@reddit
The 2 spaces is dumb
aweraw@reddit
Yeah smarty pants, you don't need to use a QWERTY keyboard - those are for the typewriter era. Feel free to pick up DVORAK
LazyOldCat@reddit
Even on Reddit if I double tap the space it puts a period in for me, plus one space.
Longjumping-Air1489@reddit
Master has given Dobby a space. Dobby is FREE!!
-3MTA3-@reddit
Always 2 spaces. Cuz the computers out the period for you so do phones etc
R34ct0rX99@reddit
I think the whole discussion is silly. Sometimes I do one space, sometimes two. Two feels right. And now I’m old enough to be stuck in my ways.
RocktoberBlood@reddit
Two because I took keyboarding class my freshman year and it's ingrained in my head. To all the degenerates in my class who said computers are for nerds and decided to peck their way to 40wpm for a passing grade, I hope you enjoy looking like a fool.
Dklrdl@reddit
Took a transcription exam. Every end of sentence was wrong. Why? 2 spaces. Flunked exam. Now use 1.
AbleDanger12@reddit
Could care less. They’ll survive. Tell them to go back to TikTok
Silocin20@reddit
I'm older than 42 (I'm 45) and never used the double space after the period. I think it must've been completely phased out by the early to mid 90's. I remember my freshman year there was a discussion about it, but it was no longer required.
Spiritual_Sorbet_870@reddit
I’m a younger xennial and my favorite grad school project partner is older gen-x, maybe younger generation Jones (between X and boomer). I had to take over proofing all work product because our program called for single space after period as a formatting rule and she could not break the double space habit to save her life lol
Incredible woman, absolutely brilliant and so lucky I got to work with her. But for the damn double spaces
jediphoenix1976@reddit
Two spaces for me; old habits die hard.
Strange-Spinach-9725@reddit
Tell my highschool English teacher that 20 years ago. I still think you’re a prick Mike
KatVanWall@reddit
I’m a copyeditor and double spaces make my brain itch! I know it’s a simple find and replace, but I can’t help feeling ‘please don’t!’ deep in my soul!
HopBewg@reddit
I have never had an editor for any journal or report from multiple publishers ever remove spaces after periods.
FestiveArtCollective@reddit
I'm older than 42 and I've only been using one space since the early aughts. Maybe it was because I got into freelance web design and double spaces between sentences never looked good on websites, so it just stuck with me. I work with someone who is like 6 months younger than me and she double space all the way. Different experiences in our professional lives will also have an effect on this.
Ghoulie_Marie@reddit
I mean I was taught two in highschool, but the convention changed in my twenties so I adapted to one over two decades ago
Diseman81@reddit
I’m 44 and have only ever used one space. I even used a typewriter when I was younger because we didn’t have a computer at home until around 1994.
Late-Arrival-8669@reddit
To old to change now..
Kessalia19@reddit
I do what I want!
allmyguts@reddit
I've been doing it so long ur not gonna convince me to stop now
Hot-Ad930@reddit
I don't have to but I WILL
thisunrest@reddit
Does the dumbass think that people older than 42 all lived in the typewriter era?
joshhupp@reddit
I learned two spaces on a typewriter, but once I realized that it wasn't necessary I discarded that training for efficiency
xiaomayzeee@reddit
Texting I only use one space. Typing anything on a computer gets two spaces.
Steelclad@reddit
This must have been an American thing or something, I have never heard of putting two spaces after a period? (and I did grow up with typewriters, being an older Xennial)
That all said, of course only one space.
AskTheAdmin@reddit
How do I stop?
Shankar_0@reddit
If I input a double space, it puts a period for me.
I believe that my phone* disagrees with OP.
*(also me)
Acrobatic-Ad-5966@reddit
Sorry I will do what I want. It's proper etiquette.
GETitOFFmeNOW@reddit
I've been free since starting college in 1987; once we had computers we weren't doing double space after the period anymore. I don't see why this would be common in 42 year old people who were born after 1983.
YogurtclosetDull2380@reddit
I want my sentences separated a little bit for ease of reading
GrunchWeefer@reddit
That ship sailed decades ago, you know? A second space won't even render on a web page. Try it here. I just did two and you can't tell. Also modern text renderers already add a little extra space after a period anyway. You don't need to keep pretending your computer is a typewriter in 2025.
persistantcat@reddit
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic? The two spaces are very evident in your comment. I also use two and it looks natural to me.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
Are they evident? I think you're seeing things. Inspect the HTML.
Brym@reddit
Agreed. Also, I think the thing that people overlook is that our micro-generation learned to type when people were still teaching two spaces, but proportional computer fonts were already a thing. We're not importing typewriter habits into the computer age; we're just using what we were taught on computers.
darumamaki@reddit
One for digital docs, two for printed.
Warm-Discipline5136@reddit
I never did this.
Ok_Percentage5157@reddit
Two for period, one for comma. The typewriter thing is a myth, so far as to why two spaces exist. Two spaces originates from old printing presses, which do indeed use proportional typesetting like modern word processing software does, before the typewriter.
The evolution of this to a grammar rule is interesting, and most styles now have done away with it, mostly for the wrong reasons. There are studies that show reading patterns flow better when two spaces are used after a period, and others that show no difference.
For most people it's a force of habit, and there's no reason to stigmatize the age of the person for their habit.
Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit
I learned to type on Mavis Bacon 🥓 not some old rickety typewriter haha what the heck Im not 75
Michellere79@reddit
I'm still hitting how two spaces, I feel like my sentences are gasping for air.
SouthPawChronicles@reddit
I haven’t double spaced in easily 20 years. Not necessary anymore
count_strahd_z@reddit
Two makes so much more sense. Far easier to spot the end of a sentence when reading.
RizzotheCat@reddit
Alexandratta@reddit
sips tea
Don't tell me what to do. Okay?
syizm@reddit
Last time I checked 2 spaces was still acceptable at the highest tiers of writing (APA, etc.)
Younger folks may not like it but... if you're using to smashing x spaces after a period, try doing X+1 or x-1 for a few hundred words? Kinda sucks.
Good thing they are both acceptable and proper and so just do whatever ya want mates
JoshSidekick@reddit
Depends on if I'm writing a 5 page paper. I'll also up the font by a point or two. Though, I haven't had to do this for like 25 years now.
Sinistas@reddit
I'm pretty sure I still used 2 up until I got a smartphone. Now? Ain't nobody got time for that!
AquarianAirhead@reddit
I only do 1 now. It's been probably 10 or more years since I was converted. It makes me a little itchy now when I see double spaces between sentences, and I'll take them out of old versions of documents I am updating for work. I'm not sure what flipped the switch in me, maybe the iPhone.
But I'm still a proud Oxford comma user, and you can pry my em dash from my cold, non-AI hands.
jackfaire@reddit
One space. I grew up typing on computers.
skriverkarlen@reddit
I'm 46 but have always been in "camp 1 space". Never really used a typewriter though, we went straight from pencil to PC at school
grandspartan117@reddit
I still do this. I can’t help it.
MadameTree@reddit
I agree, one little space doesn’t matter, which makes it crazy how many Zs and younger Millennials are enraged about it perplexing. It’s not like being forced to wear pantyhose because that’s what was expected. That I understand crusading against.
alles_en_niets@reddit
I don’t think younger people are necessarily enraged, rather mildly amused and a bit patronizing to those poor old folks who can’t keep up with modern times.
PunkSquatchPagan@reddit
I’ve never ever heard of the two space rule and I actually had a type writer.
alles_en_niets@reddit
I’m starting to think this was an American quirk back in the day?
linemanshandset@reddit
I often do it out of force of habit. I think I read somewhere only a few years ago that I don't have to do it, so if I'm thinking about it sometimes I wont.
idleat1100@reddit
I haven’t in a decade. I can’t tell you how much time I’ve saved!!
Cold_Frosting505@reddit
Dozens of seconds!!!
alles_en_niets@reddit
You’re joking, but they have saved huge amounts of time: for other people who don’t have to ‘find & replace’ throughout the entire text to correct the double spacing.
goddamn_leeteracola@reddit
I will never change.
Away_Ad_6262@reddit
35 here and we were taught two spaces in school…on a computer.
Kellysi83@reddit
I maintain the double space after a period is a hallmark of literacy. Most older millennials use proper grammar and syntax when texting.
Geek_Wandering@reddit
Partucero69@reddit
Nah Im good. I lived the education I had.
Edgarmustavas@reddit
Dear Young Ones,
When you can spell, use punctuation correctly, and make cohesive sentences/paragraphs, I'll listen to your bullshit opinion on one extra space between thoughts.
Signed,
Old Journalism major.
directrix688@reddit
Unanimous_D@reddit
I'm 57 and I've never understood the need for double-space after the period. Was there an issue between 1808 and 2008 where people would be confused if you didn't do that? Like they might mistake the last word for an abbreviation for something?
OdinDogfather@reddit
Its muscle memory when typing pm a computer. Can't help it.
jus256@reddit
You can’t tell me what to do.
digitalgraffiti-ca@reddit
Two is habit. I'll never stop.
soul_motor@reddit
One- muscle memory. Two- some of us still write stuff that will be printed (Most of my work will get printed as it's programs and policies).
Necessary_Range_3261@reddit
I'll never stop. Ever!
ophaus@reddit
My wife is firmly millennial, but learned typing from some serious old-timers. Every time I edited something she wrote, I'd have to find-replace them to keep my sanity.
TodayKindOfSucked@reddit
39 here and you’ll pry that extra space from my cold, dead, home-row-placed fingers.
zeje@reddit
42 is an interestingly specific cutoff. I’m 40 and I never did double space.
Desirsar@reddit
Two. Monospace font is easier to read and should be used more.
RanaMisteria@reddit
I’m 42 and we learned the double space too I’m afraid. But I let it go years ago when I learned what it was for.
KayNopeNope@reddit
I’m going to two space after a period because it’s muscle memory and shakes cane GET OFF MY LAWN BEFORE I TURN THE HOSE ON GOL DURNNIT
Mysterious-Wigger@reddit
Period? The dot at the end that means you're mad at the zoomers/alphas?
Important_Bobcat_851@reddit
Is indentation dead as well?
dragon_morgan@reddit
I went through all of elementary, middle, high school, and college, majoring in English no less, and I literally never heard that two spaces was even a thing until I was out in the workforce and my husband asked why I never put the second space. I'm 40 and he's 42 so that tracks.
MaxPowerrr85@reddit
Interesting...I'm 40 and I did the double-space up until about 10 years ago when I started writing documentation at work and they forced me to start removing the second space to save space lol.
Venustarr_777@reddit
One
Due_Addition_587@reddit
I did learn 2 spaces but studied typography and graphic design, so that habit died out quickly
wanna_be_green8@reddit
But does it hurt?
YesIAmPooping@reddit
I can't not put two spaces
Spare-Order-1111@reddit
THRILLA be right
Advanced_Garden_7935@reddit
Single space looks awful. You can have my double space, like my Oxford comma, when you pry it from my cold, blue, and lifeless hands!
Healthy-Neat-2989@reddit
Never did two. But I learned on computers, not typewriters.
arkitektmsh@reddit
I do this every time…then spell check started correcting me.
Dizzy_Magazine684@reddit
Word doesn't like me doing double spaces
SnarkyGoblin1313@reddit
Always two
Wabbit65@reddit
I may not have to, but I like to.
floppedtart@reddit
Oh whatever
bcentsale@reddit
I sincerely feel that "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the [grammatical convention]."
Some variant of this gets posted almost weekly in this sub, or it at least comes up as a comment in some thread or other.
bluetubeodyssey@reddit
It gets my goat because younger coworkers and friends get on my case that I'm still using two spaces. It's easier for me to read that way though; with one space the sentences get jumbled together in my brain.
InterestingTry5190@reddit
I switched to one and like it now
starburn82@reddit
I always used to do two, but one day I changed to one and I can't remember when it happened!
MasterDave@reddit
Dear everyone younger than 42, you don't have to put lol in every serious thought you put on the internet just to let us know that you're not actually going to kill yourself.
We sort of don't care. Be emo about everything. It's fine.
Anyway, understanding simple concepts like muscle memory and how repeated habits over 30 years are nearly unbreakable especially when there's nothing to be gained would be highly advised. If two spaces triggers you, it's you. Not everyone doing it.
MyNameis_bud@reddit
shortycall911@reddit (OP)
On my phone, it’s always one space, but on the laptop, it’s always two
IEnjoyVariousSoups@reddit
And if needed, at the end, Ctrl+H to find two spaces and replace all with one.
notmyfault@reddit
When typing it’s unavoidable. I type fast and have been double tapping that space bar for 30 years.
Ghost_Turd@reddit
It's far too ingrained now. And it still just looks right to me.
HeyBird33@reddit
This, exactly for me. Even on my phone I hit the space twice at the end of the sentence. It just uses on of them as a period.
jake03583@reddit
I am a professional type setter and I can tell you it absolutely does not look right. It looks like there are giant holes and it makes it much harder to read.
log0n@reddit
What are you talking about without the extra space it looks like all the sentences run into each other & makes the paragraph look very cluttered. The extra space visually cleans the paragraph so it’s much easy to read & pleasant to the eye.
No one likes brutalist looking giant slabs of text that why indented was invented. The extra space between sentences is just a continuation of that.
jake03583@reddit
I’ll remember that the next time I win a design award with my typesetting.
Available-Crow-3442@reddit
Have you designed typefaces as well?
jake03583@reddit
No, I don’t design the type faces, I know how to use them. Use them the way the typographers is intended and double spacing was not the intention.
Available-Crow-3442@reddit
Oh I was just curious. I’m in the a proportional line-spacing, large margin, justified with hypenation, one space after a period crowd.
Former-Wish-8228@reddit
Me too. I won the Fontler of the Year Award for my original BullSquanto SandSerif style. Boomer, there it is!
jake03583@reddit
Font design mean nothing if you don’t know how to properly set the type.
Available-Crow-3442@reddit
Do me a favor. Open literally any book & take a look at the line and character spacing. You will see there is no double space after periods.
So despite your protestation about brutalist-looking slabs of text, you are simply incorrect, albeit confidently incorrect, about the conventions of professional type setting
log0n@reddit
I have many times & double spacing is always easier to read & looks better.
Look chalk it up to personal preference if you like but the facts remain for many people the double space does increase readability. If you’re not one of them that’s fine, but I’m not the one going around complaining people don’t do things my way. Use whichever convention you prefer but stop assuming other people’s opinions are wrong jut because you don’t agree with them.
I know nothing about nor care one bit what professional typesetters have to say anymore then I care what grammar nazis have to say. There both pretentious clowns ardently adhering to fixed conventions when language itself is not only morphic but polymorphic & anything but fixed.
Call me a boomer all you want (I was born in 1979) but the fact that you are so positive your opinion is the only correct one just shows your obstinance.
molniya@reddit
It’s not even a matter of opinion. Typesetting exists, has for centuries, and extra spaces between sentences just aren’t part of it, so they don’t exist in a correctly typeset document. I’m surprised Reddit even displays them outside of code blocks, since HTML natively treats any amount of whitespace as just a single space.
Available-Crow-3442@reddit
Right. What professionally typeset books have double spaces after periods? I’m sure they exist. I’ve never seen one.
ElleMNOTee@reddit
100% agree with you, readability is important.
dogtor_howl@reddit
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 The kerning on modern (digital) fonts means letters fit together nicely, and we no longer need the help of an extra space to distinguish when a sentence ends and begins.
Former-Wish-8228@reddit
Bullsquat.
jake03583@reddit
I bullsquat, your bullsquat, and raise you brimstone and malarky
Rolands_missing_head@reddit
Uhh_JustADude@reddit
If you're interested, you can set up autocorrect in your word processors and/or system defaults to make a double space a single one in order to adapt without changing habit.
Big_Slope@reddit
I ctrl+h all double spaces to single whenever I’m given a report to proofread.
Then I turn on tracked changes.
HipHopGrandpa@reddit
notmyfault@reddit
Thanks, but the extra space doesn’t bother me and I am not submitting documents for publication so it isn’t really relevant.
deanna6812@reddit
Exactly. It’s must muscle memory at this point. I have had documents revised before going public and the double-space was removed. Nobody ever said anything to me about it though so I will continue to live it ignorant bliss.
jake03583@reddit
You are the curse we typesetters have been fighting for literal decades
VincentVanGTFO@reddit
12boru@reddit
It looks wrong otherwise.
special-k-flo@reddit
Same. People at work "correct" me all the time. 😥
ladyzowy@reddit
It's a setting you can change!
Fecal_Forger@reddit
I remember when I used to say a purchase was too much money for a phone transaction and went straight to my laptop….
BigDaddyUKW@reddit
PinSufficient5748@reddit
Honestly, I didn't even notice my phone single spaces. I always use two when using my laptop. Living that double life...
Griffry@reddit
Maybe it's the graphic design training, where I have a better than average idea of kerning or just having had access to computers earlier than my peers (a perk of dad working on so many was getting scrap parts to build our own), but I broke away from the double space long ago. Word processing made it significantly easier to read without the double space.
I remember it being a discussion in my high school among the more tech savvy students and faculty as to if the double space still made sense. English department, however, didn't care and still required it on all papers.
Adorable_Is9293@reddit
It’s muscle memory. Deal with it.
StankBaitFishing@reddit
Two. When I have a paper that requires certain pages every space matters. 😅
IAmAQuantumMechanic@reddit
43 and never used two.
mysocalledmayhem@reddit
What if I pride myself on being from my era, have no plans to alter my life when I actually like the aesthetic of two spaces, and much less do I seek to make myself uncomfortable to appease a bunch of assholes?
WHAT OF IT?
TheCuriosity@reddit
Some teachers still teach that as if it's a thing in the real world.
AnElectricalMeatbag@reddit
Two. It's easier to read. You may pry that second space after the period out of my cold, dead hands. That's when you may also take my Oxford comma as well as the capital letter in the first letter of each word in a hash tag. From my brain to yours: you're welcome for making things easier to read.
larryjrich@reddit
It was only a couple of years ago that I found out people stopped using 2 spaces starting in the early 2000s. I've been making a conscious effort to only use 1 space, but I still do 2 spaces sometimes just out of habit. It's pretty funny because I can tell if someone is over the age of 40 if I see 2 spaces after a period when I'm reading their text.
Inside-Slide-3035@reddit
I’m getting a typewriter due to this Tweet
kenadams_the@reddit
42? Wtf? I used one as a kid. Personal computers are very old and existed already during my childhood..
Upnatom617@reddit
Umm I never did so.
rbltech82@reddit
It might be my ADHD but 'aint nobody got time for that shit' I hit space once and let word handle everything else.. lol
GonnaGoFat@reddit
I do it twice. As it makes the phone put a . Automatically. Yet it still only puts once space after the period. I will put 2 spaces after a period if I’m writing on a keyboard.
ConstructionOther686@reddit
I’ll never stop
Disastrous_Ant5657@reddit
Blame old Windows Word, I don't want any squiggly lines.
ericthepilot2000@reddit
You'll take my two spaces from my cold, dead hands.
WilliamFCheeseburger@reddit
it's engrained at this point. No going back now.
bassman314@reddit
You can pry the double space from my cold, dead hands.
Until then, I'll continue to use it.
What an odd hill to make us die on. Seriously. Who cares how many spaces I use?
Free-Cherry-4254@reddit
I only ever did a single space after the period, but I am a definite proponent of the Oxford comma
Kitchen-Customer-746@reddit
I can't help it😭
fargoLEVY13@reddit
Graduated ‘97, went right to college, where it was still 2 spaces. Got kicked out after 3 semesters. Went back to college in ‘07 & got a big surprise on my first paper. Definitely missed the memo. 2 spaces always looked weird to me so I’m glad it’s just 1 now.
ponyXpres@reddit
But what about after a colon?
Temporary-Cost5249@reddit
Always 2
CunnyMaggots@reddit
One space. But my phone does two automatically.
TheLakeWitch@reddit
I only recently (like within the last 10 years, after I went back to school) evolved out of two spaces. I still occasionally use an Oxford comma. Yes, we want to be accurate but at the same time unless you’re typing a paper for class I don’t think it’s as serious as some people make it out to be. Even then, I was never marked off any of my university papers for using either.
heycarlgoodtoseeyou@reddit
Anytime I have to review/approve a document with double spaces the first thing I do is find and replace double spaces with single spaces
Clem_bloody_Fandango@reddit
I edit docs for a living also. We are judging double spacers.
Staggerlee024@reddit
Judging someone for doing it the superior and correct way?
Key-Demand-2569@reddit
Thank god, this thread is making me feel nuts.
ObligationJumpy6415@reddit
Same! All their extra spaces are belong to us! 😅
Medium_Sized_Bopper@reddit
“It looks better with two spaces.” No. No it does not, and you look like a huge dork for doing so.
VintageLover79@reddit
Thank you! As an editor, it looks ridiculous!
pianotherms@reddit
You can pry my two spaces from my cold dead hands.
LadyClassen@reddit
Why not both? Gives Chaotic evil vibes.
thelaceserpent@reddit
When my 35 page thesis is due, and I only have 33 pages, you best believe I’m using 2 spaces after a period 😝
Friendly-Contact-433@reddit
Downwithspacesentirely
seahorseMonkey@reddit
Free At Last!
TrollOnFire@reddit
2 looks better
VintageLover79@reddit
It really doesn’t.
tgs1611@reddit
But I can't help it.
Exciting_Agent3901@reddit
Who the fuck is thrilla the gorilla to tell me how to punctuate? I’m free? Fuck you. Why should I change when the gorilla is the one who’s wrong?
Kind-Crab4230@reddit
Two spaces because it helps with readability.
VintageLover79@reddit
Please adapt to modern technology in true Xennial fashion. Double spaces make you look like a boomer.
writesofdutchjackson@reddit
😳
gandolfthe@reddit
I shall fight and fight and fight against bullshit grammar making our language unlearnable and unusable
LTinS@reddit
Dear young people, the convention is and always has been two spaces. If you wish to reject the wisdom that was built upon to build society, you are welcome to live in the wilds as a non-verbal scavenger. We won't stop you.
RetroDadOnReddit@reddit
I used to do two spaces because that's how I was raised, to the point that I would edit articles that were passed to me as a web publisher at a previous position and manually add in the double spaces before publishing the articles on our company's website.
However, when I learned exactly what this screenshot is sharing I realized the error of my ways and corrected course. It's only one space after a period now. And that's how I operate.
Torkin@reddit
I have moved to single space. Took some retraining though.
ronniesfedora@reddit
I don’t want it to be so but it is. Single space unfortunately
PunningWild@reddit
I asked ChatGPT to conduct a net search, determine what was the more popular convention to separate sentences over the last few years, and it told me "em dashes."
blackhorse15A@reddit
One space is also wrong after a period. It's a space and a half between sentences. Modern word processors are now smart enough to detect the end of a sentence and automatically typeset it to the appropriate 1.5 space width, whether you type the space bar once or twice. So it's not really worth arguing about since the computer does the correct thing either way.
Now, if you're on some kind of dumb software that doesn't do that- particularly one that is uniform character spacing (a text message perhaps)- there is supposed to be a larger space between sentences than between words - which is why typewriters went to two spaces instead of one- so a full two spaces is less incorrect than a single space.
Phyukredd_tit_gydlin@reddit
Still going to do it but iPhones do it automatically
jake03583@reddit
For the love of God, stop double spacing after a period
Adventurous_Web_6958@reddit
No, I have to skim a lot, understand, go back and forth between drawings and text, and/or edit long technical sentences. It's a lot quicker to find the beginning of the sentence when there are two spaces, especially in longer paragraphs with lots of reoccurring words.
jake03583@reddit
My god, get some reading glasses or something. I have keratoconus and even I can tell it’s far easier to read without those obnoxious double spaces
Adventurous_Web_6958@reddit
I have no need for reading glasses (lucky to have very good vision), but what makes it so much easier to read without the spaces? More pleasant when reading for entertainment etc maybe.
As I noted I am not reading so much as studying the text for detail. With long sentences about technical things that interact with each other, it is often necessary to re-read sentences multiple times, parse out objects etc. Much easier to do, if I can pinpoint the beginning of the sentence faster.
But I've never complained about single spacing, just my preference for how I have to work with text.
ghos2626t@reddit
Leaned this too late in life. Yet never formally ever used a typewriter
Far_Amphibian1975@reddit
I stopped using two spaces in 1998.
Scherzkeks@reddit
You’ll take them from my cold. Dead. Hands.
BuuBuuOinkOink@reddit
Sorry but I can’t stop 35 years of muscle memory. At least I learned proper typing. They don’t teach that to kids anymore, they all hunt and peck. My young colleagues think it’s crazy I can type “so fast” and without looking at the keys. Who is paying attention to whether people use one or two spaces anyway?
FlappyMcBitey@reddit
People say they put two spaces after a period, but reading their documents, I see they actually put one, two, or three spaces.
Quinalla@reddit
It’s not a typewriter thing, it’s a font thing. Modern fonts don’t need double spacing, older fonts did.
PokerbushPA@reddit
I will not take grammar and punctuation advice from the generation that speaks entirely in acronyms or who think a period is hostile.
Unless you are a my college English professor, sit the fuck down and double the fuck space.
Unending-Flexionator@reddit
I don't know what to do anymore. I'm 46... they call me boomer and spit on me... I just want to be loved
dejavoodoo77@reddit
I'm institutionalized now, I'm an institutional man, there's nothing for me out there
4mmun1s7@reddit
I still do two…I know I don’t need to, but changing the habit takes some work and there are other more important things to worry about. 😬
Doctor_Zedd@reddit
I’m 42 and an editor for scientists. In my experience, only the ones over 60 do this.
Addamall@reddit
Heh, I guess it’s true, I’m 41 and I remember the typewriter being used in my household growing up, but we had a word processor by the time I wrote anything.
My_Knee_Hurts_@reddit
One!
poofandmook@reddit
you can pry that and the oxford comma from my cold, dead fingers.
MaraScout@reddit
I was typing for more than 30 years without knowing that double spacing after a period was even a thing, so whatever.
Cute_Researcher_6578@reddit
I didn't even know the '2 spaces' was a thing! I've already used a single space.
Cisru711@reddit
Idk...fuck those who try to tell you how to type or who claim that their opinion on what is "correct" or "proper" is worth more than your opinion?
I learned to type on a computer and was taught 2 spaces. So folks can get out of here with their "that was only for typewriters" bullshit.
Thenadamgoes@reddit
I am over 42 and I have literally never put two spaces after a period.
Absurditee4@reddit
It's muscle memory. It makes made me mildly irritated when I took a couple additional college courses 5 years ago and one instructor graded me down for doing it.
slowfocus2020@reddit
That dosen't make anything easier for me as an old. I've been trained to that all my school and college years. Trying to remember I don't have to do something that I do automatically is harder than changing my ways. I just won't train my kid or anyone else to do it.
Willing_Crazy699@reddit
You will not impose your lackadaisical standards on me. It is and always will be two spaces
RoseStillHasThorns@reddit
2 spaces 4 ever!!!!!
NeutralLock@reddit
What. The. Hell.
BaldEagleRising17@reddit
I’m adding three spaces. This compensate for the lost spaces.
Sorry_Im_Trying@reddit
No. Nor will I stop capitalizing I, or use full sentences when texting.
It's the small things that keep a society running.
PleaseDontBanMe82@reddit
You can't make me stop!
liftkitten@reddit
I learned with two spaces but retrained myself about 20 years ago in grad school. Now I think all that blank space looks weird
McRando42@reddit
Same.
McRando42@reddit
One space. Modern word processing programs will place a bit of extra space between the period and the start of the next sentence.
The two space is a legacy of antiquated technology and is no longer required.
disinaccurate@reddit
Two spaces were pointless as soon as proportional fonts were a thing.
People keep bringing up the Oxford comma, but they're not remotely the same thing. One serves an actual purpose, the other was a workaround from old hardware limitations.
Lady_of_Tardis@reddit
I failed typing class at my Catholic all girls high school and had to go to summer school for typing.
It will always be two spaces for me. 😏
odafishinsea2@reddit
One. I’m getting old, not ancient. I can learn new things, and I did some 20+ years ago.
Additional_Name_867@reddit
You can pry my double space from my cold, dead thumbs. DS for life!
Reasonable-Phase-681@reddit
1 space isn’t enough.
blondee84@reddit
I've transitioned to 1 space. It was hard to train myself because I was so use to 2 spaces that I did it without thinking, but I think I have it now
Luder714@reddit
then why does my iphone put a period after i type two spaces?
theoutsideplace@reddit
TRGBFAN@reddit
But we were taught two spaces even for writing in elementary school?
Strong_Molasses_6679@reddit
Readability matters. Eyes are eyes.
PineapplesandAlpacas@reddit
I’m not 42 but I’m definitely old enough to do what I want, which is a double space at the end of a sentence.
grim_f@reddit
Two spaces after is how you know you're communicating with a human, albeit an older one.
TheDavidCall@reddit
1983 baby here, learned on a typewriter. Once I found out several years ago that it’s an old people thing and that readability is actually the same with one or two spaces, and fonts are obviously not fixed length anymore, it took a moment of subtle anger and maybe less than a week to get used to. Now I single space everything and I erase erroneous double spaces in others’ writing when we’re collaborating. Y’all, we should not be too scared to adapt to new things. It’s what makes us despise the worst of The Olds in our lives. Let’s not become them (as much).
Former-Wish-8228@reddit
The Olds here. Do what you gotta do…but screw y’all’s if you think using y’alls is proper language.
TheDavidCall@reddit
You’re right. I’m from Ohio and never said anything of the sort until I moved to Texas 16 years ago. I’ve succumbed :(
Former-Wish-8228@reddit
To Texans: Ya all can take all y’all’s’ins language and keep it in a gunny sack.
TheDavidCall@reddit
I should clarify: these are not my people. I don’t plan on staying forever.
Capable_Eggs@reddit
I’m 45 and have never used a typewriter wtf even is this
LtPowers@reddit
For a while I was still double-spacing here on Reddit and on wikis, where input text is rendered in a monospaced font. But I think I've lost the habit now.
Keep_Plano_Corporate@reddit
Time has taken so much from me, can't you leave me to my TWO spaces after a period!!
Fire_Tiger1289@reddit
I still write in AP Style, circa Dinosaur, which is when I graduated with my journalism degree.
The two spaces were ingrained into the fiber of my being.
BuckManscape@reddit
Which means on their phone, they potentially hit space three times after every sentence for the period and 2 spaces.
thetrappster@reddit
Converted to single space years ago. The Oxford comma, however, you can pry from my cold dead hands.
revpayne@reddit
Always 2. Worst case, gives us something to be pretentious about.
cushing138@reddit
What a weird thing to care about.
PersianCatLover419@reddit
I have worked in editing for decades, and it is two.
Due_Adagio5156@reddit
Do you have to? No. Should you? Yes. The fact that you were using a typewriter was not the purpose of a double space. It’s separation of statements. And you children definitely need to stop and think what you post and say.
VNM0601@reddit
Keep pushing me and I’ll use 3 fucking spaces. I don’t care.
cupcakeheavy@reddit
fuck it; just use a semicolon.
GrimSpirit42@reddit
That extra space has a purpose.
whereisbeezy@reddit
One space. Always one space.
TheHarlemHellfighter@reddit
Still gonna use two spaces…
Gab83IMO@reddit
Its 3 dots ding a ling. I wasn't really sure when they think we asked for this help in this area, do you guys? I mean, if it ain't broken why fix it?
Grinzy@reddit
I dropped that as soon as I could. I grew up typing in BBS chat rooms so punctuation and capitalization were never super important
baxx10@reddit
Still. Two. Fucking. Spaces!
HowOtterlyTerrible@reddit
Im older than 42 and I was never taught double space. Personally I think double space looks weird and I dont like it.
Schmitty300@reddit
Both are fine. Thank you.
CamachoBrawndo@reddit
I do it twice because of my iPhone, but tbh I don't quite know if I hit it twice or once on the keyboard at work. Microsoft doesn't scold for the second space so I'm. Sure that I still do both depending on what I am working on.
thelanai@reddit
I will always put 2 spaces.
Intelligent-Stage165@reddit
Early 2000's it was pretty clear to me on message boards I was the only one who had the two space habit so I phased it out, as I'm sure many others did.
QuizzicalWombat@reddit
Typewriter makes it sound like that was the norm pre computer age lol That was the MLA format for me growing up in the 90s up until I graduated in ‘01.
FionaGoodeEnough@reddit
I just don’t care. I never learned to type properly because I was in marching band when that class was offered. I find that single space often looks like practically no space in Microsoft Word, so that is annoying. I think APA required double space until just a decade ago or so. If a person or program rips out double spaces and makes them single spaces, I don’t care. Go nuts. It all looks more or less the same to me.
MeatloafSlurpee@reddit
Kriegerian@reddit
One. Two always looked excessive.
Cyke101@reddit
Sincerely,
Raymond Holt
Aranda12@reddit
No kidding.
enkidomark@reddit
goofytigre@reddit
Two periods and one space..
hip_yak@reddit
Yeah this is for folks older than 55.
DS3M@reddit
Chicago manual of style disagrees
Prestigious-Emu5277@reddit
I broke this habit in grad school. I was shocked. I’d been a double spacer all my life. My professor acted like everyone already knew about this change.
AmIYourNeighbor@reddit
On a keyboard, 2. And I won’t f••king change for anyone
JOBBYNUTS@reddit
I put in two spaces after the final word of a sentence because our devices will auto add in a period which is convenient, and then just keep typing from there. That is equal to a single space after the period. Two spaces AFTER the period is pretty egregious.
However, that period then opens the floodgates for people who get mad cause "the period is NOW used to signify the finality of a conversation and they don't want to hear anymore", which I think is dumb as hell.
Once_Upon_Time@reddit
Two looks better and is right. No need to argue one spacers, you were brought up wrong.
Maurice_Foot@reddit
1 SPACE!
(gen-x font designer in the '90s; my hill)
S7482@reddit
One, for fuck's sake. Two is incorrect. It was appropriate for kerning on typewriters back in the day. We don't use typewriters anymore.
six28eightyfive@reddit
can't stop won't stop
bamaford@reddit
Two spaces after periods also makes books longer, which makes them more expensive to print and that cost is passed onto the consumer. Not to mention that longer books require more paper, which is wasteful. Team One Space here.
Zesty-B230F@reddit
Lucky most of my typing started in the 90s, so one space since almost the beginning.
thejunkmanadv@reddit
It is rote for me. Can't undo, function not found.
lostBoyzLeader@reddit
In my late 30s. We were thought double spaces in elementary school but by middle school they changed it.
alberthere@reddit
No, thanks. It’s the secret handshake.
cleanshirt82@reddit
i’ll never stop. Sorry!
PresentationLost1006@reddit
I feel the same way about this as I do about daylight savings time. It’s an easy change. Get over it and stop whining. (One space since the late 90s).
mcjon77@reddit
I remember finding this out in grad school when we were working on a team project. Two of us were gen Xers and one was a millennial. The millennial guy told us about not having to use two spaces anymore. That was over 10 years ago and I still haven't broken the habit.
jhudson1977@reddit
Sorry, that muscle memory is set.
Schulz70j@reddit
I don’t like one space - it looks wrong. Like handwriting that’s print - just wrong
Ohio_gal@reddit
How dare you.
IamTroyOfTroy@reddit
I've learned to singles pace it, and I like it now.
Dry_Heart9301@reddit
After doing something for 35 years it might just be a habit that nobody notices and doesn't matter.
Unlikely-Strike-8753@reddit
One. I took a typing class on an actual typewriter in the 7th grade, but it's always been one for me.
Mudassar40@reddit
One. I was brought up on WordPerfect, not typewriters.
wezelboy@reddit
I’m old and I’ve always done one.
Optimal-Click-4771@reddit
It’s baked into my brain at this point.
ImpressiveWalrus7369@reddit
I’ve been single spacing my whole profession life - 20+ years
trevorgoodchilde@reddit
Thats bs you absolutely should put two spaces after a period
lovegiblet@reddit
It’s a choice. I like it.
Renzieface@reddit
I've adapted. One space is fine.
Marmom_of_Marman@reddit
Jefflehem@reddit
Just because I don't have to doesn't mean I'm going to stop. Who is this hurting?
sonorakit11@reddit
JFC one space and I’m almost 47
exqvisitely@reddit
I've finally let go of using an extra period space while I'm on my phone, but as for typing on a keyboard - forget it. I took keyboarding in high school. It's hardwired in me to double space. It's not a big deal.
Sad-Newt-1772@reddit
Hey people under 42 with good eyesight. Even with glasses I have a hard time differentiating between a comma and a period. Two spaces helps me. I am 56. I have lived with 2 spaces and have no intention of changing!
LauraPtown@reddit
Two, always two.
liza9560@reddit
Why does anyone care?
harlembornnbred@reddit
One space on my phone two if I'm typing on a computer. I'll likely never do one on an actual keyboard since 2 is ingrained in me at this point lol
SlapHappyDude@reddit
Yeah it's been one space forever. I don't remember exactly when I made the switch, but I want to say it was in my AIM days.
thegreatfartrocket@reddit
Never! You can pry the extra space from my cold, dead hands.
Lindros124@reddit
SomethingFunnyObv@reddit
I like how it looks so idgaf. Only time I don’t is if there is a character limit.
VashMM@reddit
I never used a typewriter, there was always a computer in my house.
My dad started working as a programmer back in the late 70s, so we always just had one around. I started with DOS 1.0.
grumpyoldnord@reddit
It took me quite a while to adjust, but I think I finally stopped double-spacing my sentences maybe 5 years ago?
DisastrousFlower@reddit
two. always two.
Karadek99@reddit
Until I die. That and the Oxford comma.
PandaHombre92055@reddit
Nah, 2 spaces til i die. On a phone is one thing but work emails and papers, two spaces every time.
dirtjiggler@reddit
Always have been, always will be. A double space guy.
havenstone@reddit
Does anyone remember putting two spaces before the zip code when you’re typing out an address?
FriarTurk@reddit
Two spaces. I don’t care what anyone says, it still makes it easier for the reader.
notanactualvampire@reddit
I will do as I damn well please
BrainFartTheFirst@reddit
I still do two. Just how I was taught.
terra_technitis@reddit
My mom taught typing and could type at 120 WPM and taught typing in highschool after she finished her career in the Army. She only taught people to use two spaces between sentences on shitty manual typewriters that had mono spaced fonts. She only bought and preferred to usetypewriters that had proportional fonts and switched to word processors and computers as they became affordable too her.
sleepwalkfromsherdog@reddit
1) still doing it
2) the Oxford comma's coming with me
Cuco1981@reddit
Person over 42 here, never in my life did I use 2 spaces after a period. Is this something taught in the states? Never heard about it before.
DaughterisaDancer@reddit
Grammerly only likes 1 space after the period.
VF-41@reddit
2 all day
OpiumPhrogg@reddit
It's usually like 2-4 periods....
OoT-TheBest@reddit
Always has been one?
Roseheath22@reddit
I abandoned the double space a long time ago when I found out it was acceptable to just use one. I always hated it.
DGS9060@reddit
Is this really an issue?..Or, just an opportunity to throw some unnecessary shade on "old people?
user_name_unknown@reddit
Am I the only one who has never heard about putting two spaces? I’ve always only put one.
Iamthegreenheather@reddit
I always fought against using the double space and I'm 44.
AcadianTraverse@reddit
It was two in my typing classes in elementary school. I think I did it through high school, though that may have been where I heard it was no longer necessary. In my college communications class we were told two spaces was now incorrect and so that's where it stopped for me.
Weak_Radish966@reddit
2 spaces 4 life
RealityOk9823@reddit
One space.
Deadshadow84@reddit
2 because I was programmed that way.
houndsoflu@reddit
Dear friends under 42, we never used a typewriter. It helps prevent the wall of text.
Lady-Kitnip@reddit
All major style guides (MLA, Chicago, AMA, APA, etc.) have changed to one space.
loulouroot@reddit
Fine, whatever, but the lack of a period after "free" is killing me.
Unusual_Memory3133@reddit
Hello, I am 61 and haven’t done that since High School, but thanks for condescending.
thewayshesaidLA@reddit
Mavis Beacon taught me on the computer to use two spaces.
rthanu@reddit
It's muscle memory 🤷♂️
CaliSinae@reddit
My Gen X boss still does the 2 spaces
Swamp_Donkey_7@reddit
I’m 44. This is the first I’ve heard of 2 spaces after a period.
ParadoxLS@reddit
Oh yeah! Well what if that extra space we out there is a space for our homes. Like, its MySpace then TheirSpace! Yeah, thats the ticket.
Dont-tell_Frank@reddit
Though I did learn to type on an electronic typewriter, and hand wrote half of my high school reports in cursive. I didn’t even learn about the two space rule until college? I guess I assumed this was apart of a broader requirement for certain writing styles such as APA. Heck, I don’t know! That was so dang long ago lmao
Mackheath1@reddit
Pry it from my cold, dead hands. That's right.
ImprovementThat2403@reddit
Two spaces, I'll always do it. It looks elegant and I was taught to type using a traditional type-writer. I also don't care if others don't, and I don't care if it ages me, I was born in 1978, THAT ages me.
Squid_City414@reddit
2
Level_Medicine_2144@reddit
Old habits die hard!
Mr_DV@reddit
as a 43 year old, i never did 2 spaces. though i learned typing on a computer, so maybe that had something to do with it?
golbach33@reddit
Two.
iphoenixrising@reddit
Technical Writer here 👋 we have indeed moved past the two spaces after punctuation. Enjoy and be free!
lisahipp@reddit
I am unable to make this change, apologies... :)
pimpvader@reddit
What’saspace?
Flashy-Carpenter7760@reddit
I will put two spaces, capitalize when needed and use proper punctuation so I don't look like a fucking uneducated retard. I will spell things correctly, form sentences that make sense and use them in paragraphs. I will use one word if it replaces three.
Why? Because I grew up with books. I read material well above the 6th grade level.. I take pride in it.
lastminutealways@reddit
Learned to type with double spaces, have tried a time or two to give it up and it hasn’t been worth the effort to break the habit. I know it’s become incorrect but I also prefer the look of double spaces. I even hit it on my phone like so many others but it takes care of it for me.
Cutthechitchata-hole@reddit
When i do it, it puts tge period in automatically. Therefor the habit is still relevant in my opinion
Pretend-Emergency-93@reddit
Don't tell me what to do
TaterTotQueen630@reddit
Nah, I'm 43 and I've never done that. It drives me crazy when people do it.
MartialBob@reddit
About 10 years ago I was in the middle of an education program to become a nurse. I'm going to skip some details so let's just say that my bachelor's degree was as "marketable" as my advisor suggested. Anyway, I was taking a class that was the last one before real nursing clinicals. When a paper was returned to me every time I ended a sentence the instructor had circled it in red. She left a note that I needed two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence. I asked her about this and she clarified that was the case. I was livid. I had completed high school, a bachelor's program and for said bachelor's I'd taken classes at this school before, classes at the state school I was at and a semester in a UK university. Literally no one said this was required!
CraigGrade@reddit
I was told 2 spaces in high school then I got to college and they suddenly said 1 space and I made the switch.
Silver-Awareness-799@reddit
Bullshit. It looks better w two spaces. And I will take indents to my grave!
RapBastardz@reddit
That was a hard habit to break.
ZoeCat7819@reddit
I stopped using two spaces a long time ago (maybe while in grad school around 2005?) and I’m 47.
GrunchWeefer@reddit
Yeah I don't remember when I made the switch but it was at least 20 years ago. These threads always feel like stubborn old people yelling at clouds.
BrewCityTikiGuy@reddit
Agreed! We are Xennials, not Boomers. We are more than capable of learning and changing over time!
AdjectiveNoun1234567@reddit
Yeah, it's getting a little bit boomer in here.
ZoeCat7819@reddit
I can be a stubborn old person yelling at clouds, but not on this particular issue. 🤣
Scott_R_1701@reddit
Never used a typewriter. Will double space till I die.
Also, Oxford comma.
I will fight over this.
Glass-Marionberry321@reddit
I learned typing on a computer and they still wanted the 2 spaces. Never did actual work on a typewriter. Played with my grandma's. All schoolwork was computer printed and they still wanted 2 spaces.
DangerIllObinson@reddit
Orig tweet couldn't even add an appropriate ending period. I'm not taking shitty advice from them.
Wukash_of_the_South@reddit
Two, it makes it easier to read
jake03583@reddit
Wrong. It absolutely does not make it hard harder to read. Source: I am a professional typesetter.
Available-Crow-3442@reddit
I am laughing at everybody who keeps down voting you for no reason.
To those downvoters: the double spacing creates Rivers of blanks in the text on the screen that looks stupid and makes things actually far more difficult to read. As far as I recall, every study on the issue has shown that reading comprehension is better when there is not two spaces and it certainly, virtually no professionally typeset book will have two spaces, because it’s wrong.
Few-Helicopter-3413@reddit
lol same. We professional writers and editors are with you, despite the downvotes!
AdjectiveNoun1234567@reddit
That hasn't been true since typewriters.
__ohno_notagain__@reddit
Even on a screen!!
I was taught speed reading at an early age and one of the tools they used was using the white spaces as part of the pattern recognition for faster reading.
loudog33333@reddit
This is NOT an option for us. After 30 years of doing it, it has become fully ingrained in our being.
P2269@reddit
2 spaces. Hit ‘space’ 3 times quick after typing this. End.
IcyWhiteC8@reddit
2 space crew
Futbalislyfe@reddit
When I type I put two spaces. But I started learning on a typewriter around 1986 or so. Trying to erase 40 years of muscle memory is not going to happen. There will be two spaces.
andy_nony_mouse@reddit
Interesting. I started typing class in ‘85 and abandoned two spaces in the ‘90s. Some word processors would put them in though. WordPerfect maybe?
Few-Helicopter-3413@reddit
My husband and I are different ages and both dropped it around 1995 (me in elementary school, him in high school).
grpenn@reddit
Same. I started typing in the 80s, on a typewriter, and used double spaces for that but when I started writing professionally, you learn quickly to get rid of that extra space. It’s easy to relearn, people just don’t want to try.
Rrrrandle@reddit
I used to feel the same way, but over a few weeks of being more conscientious about it, I can't go back to two spaces now.
ohthatsbrian@reddit
in the words of the poet Tom Morello,
fuck you. i won't do what you tell me.
Automatic_Beat5808@reddit
I grew up with two spaces. However, when I went to college later in life, a nice friend that was an English major informed me that two spaces were no longer necessary. And ever since then I've been a convert of only one space. As a matter of fact, I can't even stand two spaces anymore. I will deliberately search and delete all of them in any document I work with.
ProfessorOfLies@reddit
APA says two, I put two. Not gonna trust all the random text editors I have to use to format correctly
grpenn@reddit
Google it. Current APA style requires one space after a period at the end of a sentence, not two. This changed from the previous recommendation in 2019.
ProfessorOfLies@reddit
Son of a. Leave it to APA to ruin a perfectly good joke
Borsodi1961@reddit
It doesn’t hurt you. I’m not unlearning it. The two spaces will stay. Ironically, this was done by speech to text, so there is only one space between sentences!
Remote_Bumblebee2240@reddit
I cared for about 5 minutes once. Then remembered that language and grammer is constantly evolving, and if I spent time overthinking it, I would very quickly become one of those that is to rigid to change with the times. I'm not ready for the "get off my lawn" stage.
arnoldinho82@reddit
43 and an English teacher - prefer one, but won't be a bitch about two unless you're using a font larger that 14.
bootyhole-romancer@reddit
Agreed. I use only one now.
I grew up with two and used that until adulthood. Then someone told me that Word already adjusted the space after periods so that it's visually appealing.
Dunno if it's all psychological, but after that two spaces looked like too much.
Outrageous_Wheel_379@reddit
I will always do and expect to have 2 spaces.
Acceptable-Double-98@reddit
Randall_Hickey@reddit
But how come when I do that my phone knows to place a period.
RetardedSimian@reddit
Binty77@reddit
One. It’s 2025. C’mon now.
RandomRageNet@reddit
I learned to type with two spaces but broke the habit something like 15 years ago. It turns out that HTML doesn't even render the second space so even if you're double-spacing after a period here on Reddit, no one will know. Try it!
HoboMoonMan@reddit
I’m 41, going on 42 in 5 months; one space is the case!
Eastern-Row9039@reddit
Ouch
theglatmachine@reddit
In a text message, one space is fine. Everywhere else should be two spaces.
abking_84@reddit
I'm 41, and it just doesn't look right with only one space. If it's just for the typewriter, why were they teaching it in computer classes? Just one more thing that gives away my age, I guess.
Dude-from-the-80s@reddit
It’s too late for me. Muscle memory is both a blessing and a curse. I can still beat my favorite 8 and 16 bit games without dying. However, the double space remains.
church-basement-lady@reddit
Two spaces when typing on a keyboard. I don’t have an opinion about it - it is muscle memory and not something I find worthwhile to change.
sallysfunnykiss96@reddit
29- I do the double space because that's how it was taught in my typing class. I do a lot of typing for work and write in my spare time, and I appreciate the extra space when reading multiple sentences in a paragraph.
TheJokersWild53@reddit
I try not to do it, but the break after a sentence with 2 spaces is satisfying
mentaleffigy@reddit
This coming from the generation that cannot read or write cursive.
Fufeysfdmd@reddit
You'll never make me stop. Hahahahaha!
JenninMiami@reddit
I stopped doing this in the late 90s, basically as soon as I began using computers.
CityofPhear@reddit
I don't think I'll ever break out of two. It's just habit at this point.
Ned_Rodjaws@reddit
You’ll have to pry two spaces after a period from my cold dead hands!
EidolonRook@reddit
It’s not a cage, it’s a comfort zone.
Same containment, but no bars needed.
And I will NEVER be free of two space after period.
Wsn21@reddit
Im always gonna do 2 just to squeeze out those free millimeters
Hootinger@reddit
I never once ever put two. I knew some folks older than me that always out two and considered anything else as improper. Like, they would look at me sideways as if I were some uncouth fool.
bex_nh@reddit
I gave up on the 2 spaces probably 10 years ago when I learned that it was outdated. Hard habit to break! But now I can’t go back and it drives me crazy when I see 2 spaces. I’ll leave do a Find & Replace in Docs and PPTs to make sure I replace any double spaces with a single space.
Mental-Method-1321@reddit
One now. Learned the hard way in grad school and at work where all the second spaces have to be removed. Took me a hot minute to get on board.
forgetfulsue@reddit
I can’t break the habit, sorry, not sorry. I also can write in cursive, are you going to tell me it’s not necessary any more?
SJSsarah@reddit
I still stand by my two spaces. I think it helps to read it better.
petrichor83@reddit
83 here. One space.
WhattDoIKnow50@reddit
The period in digital insets the period into the last letter/word automatically, adding some space between each sentence. That being said, I’m not going to complain either way.
I will say you should use proper grammar and punctuation when texting or emailing, even if informal.
More-read-than-eddit@reddit
2 is easier on the eyes and better to convey the full stop that a period represents, whatever the origins.
Working-Chemistry473@reddit
Forever 2 spaces
scotchyscotch18@reddit
Two and I will fucking die on this hill.
Ippus_21@reddit
*sigh*
It's one. I was a die-hard two-spacer for a lot of years, all through college (English major) but even my trusty MLA eventually betrayed me. They switched from two to one in the mid-00's.
All of the major academic style guides now do single space. AP, APA, Chicago, and MLA...
TheHoodieConnoisseur@reddit
Depends on the format and what I’m writing. If it’s chunky, technical text, I’ll double space to help break it up.
jelloslug@reddit
One space. I broke myself of double spacing a long time ago.
alien-1001@reddit
I'm 42 and I grew up with one. I never even knew about two.
redditcreditcardz@reddit
You shut your lie hole!! Sorry for yelling. That shit is really more ingrained than I thought
Solo4114@reddit
Two by reflex.
One when I'm paying attention and am on a platform where character count matters.
If character count doesn't matter, I default to two, the way I was taught, and if that offends people's sensibilities, they can kiss my oxford comma.
Lava-Chicken@reddit
I've seen these double spaces at work foot official documentation and client facing messaging. I ALWAYS remove the extra spaces whenever I can do that it doesn't look like a kid wrote it. It's unacceptable.
jaywinner@reddit
I agree. But when I was taught to type, it was by people that learned on a typewriter so I've had to relearn to use only a single space.
Life_Grade1900@reddit
Also, Pluto is a planet
TheIncredibleMrJones@reddit
Doesn't matter. Both let you know that there is an end of a sentence. I like double spaced. You like single spaced. We both win.
BreakfastBeerz@reddit
Muscle memory isn't changing anything at this stage, though I've always thought it was odd to require 2 spaces and would have been fine had I learned one space in the first place
WheelLeast1873@reddit
2
mobindus@reddit
How about you do you, and you stop worrying about how i do me?
Eclectic_Paradox@reddit
I'm a writer through a bought of writers block, but I trained myself to go from 2 spaces to 1 after the period. I actually like it better. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to retrain myself.
Alarmed_Drop7162@reddit
I read for my job. If the text doesn’t have two spaces the flow is choppy.
kismetkissed@reddit
You can pry my two post period spaces from my cold, dead hands.
majessa@reddit
Nailed it. I’m 45 and do this still.
cormac_mccarthys_dog@reddit
I still do 2 out of decades of habit.
witofatwit@reddit
I still dont; under stadn the 2 space deal. I grew up in a different English-speaking country and came to the US, where I was actively removing double spaces from Word documents.
Noxton@reddit
You'll take those spaces when you pry them from my cold, dead thumbs.
insurmountable_avo@reddit
Always one? I’ve never understood why people in my cohort double space after periods because I was never taught to do that
Flat-While2521@reddit
Two spaces is stupid, 20% of the time I forgot and my papers looked like a monkey typed them
Terazen105@reddit
I will stop this practice when I'm done. That is all
mikeyfireman@reddit
I see this come up on here all the time. Who cares how many spaces there are after a period. Be glad we haven’t devolved to the world of no punctuation texts.
drawgs@reddit
Two spaces. This is the way.
And anyone who argues differently, we might as well argue that we don’t even need to use punctuation since ancient writers didn’t. I mean, how much do we want to regress? The space certainly many’s it easier for the eyes to see separate sentences. And also, I don’t care if my iPhone just automatically has one space. Let’s stop making a big deal about this.
Electronic_World_894@reddit
One space if you identify as young, two spaces if you identify as young 😜
SensitiveArtist@reddit
The 2 spaces is muscle memory at this point
Appropriate-Food1757@reddit
One. I never put 2 because it’s stupid
dishwasher_mayhem@reddit
Go fuck yourself.
WhatTheCluck802@reddit
Double space and I’ll die on this hill.
bascule@reddit
A lot of people here claiming to still be two space typers and yet their posts are all one space after sentences 🤔
Total_Ordinary_8736@reddit
One. Not debatable.
craftyzombie@reddit
Two spaces after the period and the Oxford comma are the hills I will die on.
XxFezzgigxX@reddit
I’m a technical writer nearing fifty. The XML schema in my writing software automatically removes the extra space. I can put them in there all day long and nobody will know.
We don’t put them in there because we prefer the extra space. It’s just years of muscle memory.
mosh_pit_nerd@reddit
Listen, I know this, but it takes a long time to overcome 35 or so years of muscle memory.
nullpassword@reddit
Forty years I been asking permission to piss. I can't squeeze a drop without say-so. Red
nola_mike@reddit
I never did put an extra space. To be frank, I don't think I was ever taught that way either.
pmmlordraven@reddit
Two. I find it easier to parse individual sentences with a double space. Single looks a bit too run-on for my tastes.
grpenn@reddit
I had to stop that double space when I started writing professionally. Also, the Oxford Comma is not linked to the double space. You can love your extra comma and get rid of the extra space. It is possible.
vabello@reddit
I’m almost 50 and I didn’t know about the two spaces thing until the last few years. I grew up on typewriters and computers in the 80’s and am in IT. :-/
chargoggagog@reddit
2 is in my brain forever. That shit ain’t getting out.
Disastrous-Tap-3353@reddit
Team two 2️⃣
BrattyTwilis@reddit
I was taught 2 spaces in school. Times change
LittleSubject9904@reddit
Fighting for two spaces is silly and stubborn. It’s already been well explained in this thread why they were used with typewriter fonts, and how computer fonts are different. Get over it!
ILikeBumblebees@reddit
OK, but monospace fonts are also used widely on computers, and having different delimiters between sentences as between words is still functionally and aesthetically useful.
Mountain-Fox-2123@reddit
I will put 3 spaces after the period from now on
Also i have never used a typewriter. In Norway it was mostly used before i was born, and by the time i started school in 1990, it was not really used anymore.
greenroombro@reddit
Over 42 here and honestly even back then when learning this rule I always thought it was kind of dumb. Like why does each other form of punctuation get one space and the period, question mark, or exclamation point gets two?
As life progressed I found myself working in restaurants and really didn't have much of a need for actual proper punctuation for the better part of 25 years.
Now having transitioned into a completely different field where writing is a major part of my duties I feel like I am "stickin' it to the man" with each sentence I type.
The sense of validation and albeit smallest of dopamine releases I get with each and every sentence almost balances out a childhood spent in second hand smoke, eating paint chips and getting sold out by trickle down economics.
ElectricLego@reddit
Depends on the readability of the font and the read-ability of my eyes. I might be getting old
Fit-Rip-4550@reddit
Yeah... no. I will continue to maintain my cognitive autonomy. My writing is my own.
Joecamoe@reddit
One is superior, it just looks better
Asleep-Banana-4950@reddit
Oh, really? Most auto-grammar correct programs will flag two spaces after a period as an error. I ignore it and continue. And, get off my lawn.
Sdemon235@reddit
It has been the hardest habit to break. Even harder than stopping smoking.
metmerc@reddit
I know I'm in the minority, but one space has been the standard for somewhere around two decades now. It's okay to adopt and it isn't actually that hard to retrain.
The Oxford comma, though, just makes sense and I will use that to my dying days.
seminarysmooth@reddit
I put two at the end of a sentence in my reports and emails. One in a text and Reddit post.
Lazy_Tell_2288@reddit
As I’ve asked my students: Why would I want to be free? All those extra spaces make my paper longer.
JasonTheX@reddit
I never liked that extra space.
cantwejustplaynice@reddit
I'm 47, never even heard of the double space thing until recently. I'm Australian, was this something taught to Americans?
AlienDelarge@reddit
American here I was never taught it in typing class nor held to it in any other class though I am on the younger side of this group. I did not have typing class with typewriters though.
cantwejustplaynice@reddit
I used a few typewriters as a child but only for fun. At school it was computers the entire time from the early 80s onwards.
AlienDelarge@reddit
I don't even remember knowing anyone with a typewriter growing up except one we borrowed for filling out paper college applications. We did have a TI-99/4A at home.
LeftHandedGuitarist@reddit
UK here, I had never heard of it either.
ComprehensiveTart689@reddit
I took typing classes in Uk in the 90s and it was a thing in terms of the convention for correct secretarial typing. The muscle memory is so ingrained that I cannot stop hitting the space bar twice, even if I wanted to.
Buttermilkman@reddit
UK here too, never heard of it. 41 years old and I don't think we were ever taught type writers, it was PC's.
Kairiste@reddit
This GenXer will die on the hill of two spaces after a period. See? Let's the words breathe.
water_bottle1776@reddit
I didn't do much that required typing until MS Word had conquered the world, so 1 space has always been my habit although I was taught 2 in school.
marcos_MN@reddit
I was never taught to double space after a period. It seems unnecessary. The period already does the work of separating sentences, no extra signal is needed to communicate that the statement has ended.
grlie9@reddit
Has anyone noticed that no one indents the beginning of a paragraph anymore? Did I hallucinate that ever being a thing?
Hereticrick@reddit
Except we didn’t use typewriters? This was taught to us post-typewriter era.
ddmf@reddit
Never did this in my school in the UK, only a single space after a period. I left school in 1992.
morroia_gorri@reddit
I had an older coworker that I had this friendly argument with. One space unless you’re using a monospaced font. Get with the times, Kris!
0sqs@reddit
I'm 42, I've never done that in my entire life.
Ocksu2@reddit
I have been typing for over 30 years. I know that the spacing is done automatically, but it doesn't matter. 3 decades+ of muscle memory isn't going away even if I wanted it to... which I do not.
Pbtomjones@reddit
I was a double spacer my entire life until I went back to school to get my Masters in 2015. It appears academia, including published papers, have all switched to single space. I no longer use double space as my job requires single spacing.
Ardilla914@reddit
Two. You can pry them out of my cold dead hands.
External-Remote-9119@reddit
I can't stop!! Help
MrsBridgerton@reddit
Xennial and 1 spacer. 🤷🏻♀️
Epicardiectomist@reddit
2 just makes for easier reading. Paragraphs start to look like run-on sentences without them.
Available-Crow-3442@reddit
The only correct answer is one space. Two spaces is a leftover dinosaur from mono space typewriters.
If you look at virtually any professionally type set document, it will have justified margins and single space after periods. That is the correct answer when you are putting together a professionally type set document with a proportional line space font.
The only time where it’s acceptable is if you are using a manner space type face in a word processor. But frankly, there is very little reason to do that other than to emulate the look of an old typewriter these days.
Truth_Seeker963@reddit
It took me a loooong time to switch to one space for work. I still don’t like it.
adon4@reddit
Minnow_Minnow_Pea@reddit
I draft contracts and our sentences are like 400 words long. Double spacing helps you parse the document.
Otherwise, I don't have strong opinions, but if I'm reading a dense article, it does help break up large chunks of text. So slight preference visually in the case, but whatever.
PhilBalls2020@reddit
I do what I want
h4nd@reddit
can’t stop won’t stop
full_of_ghosts@reddit
One space. The gorilla is correct. Two spaces was for fixed-width fonts in the typewriter era.
No_Media4766@reddit
Double spaces create rivers in your typesetting which are ugly and distracting. So you can do that all you want but when I lay out an article I’m getting rid of ‘em.
MacabreMori113@reddit
Always two. It's not hurting anybody. Kids today just like to complain
Dry_Inspection_4583@reddit
wiping the tear from my eye. But, but, but, I just can't not the thing. Go on without me fellow xennials.
thunderlips36@reddit
Two spaces for life. It was never a hindrance and it makes a block of text easier to read for me and my old eyes.
Icy_Pomegranate7506@reddit
Technology has caused me to forget what I used to do. I just put the . in there and proceed. I did have to remove auto correct since the AI got involved. It was changing entire sentences. I do a good enough job of making a fool of myself. I don't need any assistance from AI!
According_Turn_3473@reddit
It depends on the font. Some need it to see that break in between sentences.
The1Zenith@reddit
I had to learn proper spacing using graph paper. I never double-spaced after a period. Ever.
Putasonder@reddit
I still do two. I also still pour out one for my homies.
retepoteil@reddit
Thank god
Sunday_Schoolz@reddit
Double spaces is a vestige of the printing press to ensure that the ink of the new sentence didn’t run into the old sent once. With digital type the double space is irrelevant, and I would counsel everyone to not elongate your work by double spacing.
Fabulous_Hat7460@reddit
I'm dying on this hill. Always double space after the period, it's just the right way to do it. See.
LogicalFallacyCat@reddit
I've been doing one space ever since anyone who insisted on two failed to give any actual reason for it.
tsoplj@reddit
2 ‘til I die!
beau92082@reddit
I had broken my habit of two spaces, but now my job requires two spaces on most things I turn in.
jeophys152@reddit
I put two spaces. It looks nicer to me. Seems like a pretty petty thing to worry about for the younger generation considering how F’d they are right now.
MetaVulture@reddit
I collect and own typewriters, I also (at an mature level) service and repair them as well. Double space stays relevant to me.
Redguard118@reddit
Fuck I still do this.
Tildes_are_fun2write@reddit
No. It’s 2 spaces. It will always be 2!!!
oldmilt21@reddit
I hit it twice if you know what I mean.
bs6@reddit
One space. Two spaces looks odd now.
RushBubbly6955@reddit
I grew up with two but acclimated pretty well in the late 90s/2000s to one period.
hapagolucky@reddit
I don't have to, but I can't undo my muscle memory when using a physical keyboard.
As someone that's been steeped in HTML, Markdown and LaTeX for 30 years, I'd argue that this debate is moot if we'd stop conflating content with layout.
AtmosphereInside2521@reddit
My thumb does 2 clicks of the spacebar after a period. I’m not undoing that muscle memory for one less thumb click and to appease the masses. 2 spade for life.
rwoodytn@reddit
2
Scarfieldjones@reddit
Are you serious? I'm 49—I grew up with computers. The last time I saw a typewriter, I was 10
Faustus_Fan@reddit
There is no fighting muscle memory. I have been doing two spaces for so long that, at this point, it's damned near impossible for me to change. I'll stick to using two spaces.
dphillips83@reddit
throwsplasticattrees@reddit
One space is the standard. Adapt
OrganicFeedback4451@reddit
easier to read but it’s not that deep
fxnsxi@reddit
I'm in my early 30's and it was drilled into me in college to add 2 spaces after a period. I find it uncomfortable now to only use 1 🥲
rickitytick@reddit
Now, I’m just going to 2 space even harder
TK1129@reddit
I’ll be 42 in 2 weeks and I can’t stop doing this
WereAllScreeewed@reddit
We know we don’t need two spaces after the period…thats why we use three dots now lol
yespls@reddit
I do two. Fuck the haters.
eatelectricity@reddit
I'm 44 and I never put two spaces after a period. I think I was well into my 20's before I even knew that was a thing.
This-is-Actual@reddit
ONE. Two is for typewriters.
comascape@reddit
I had to retrain myself to not add two spaces. That’s what we learned in “keyboarding” class in High School, lol.
fringeCircle@reddit
I use em spaces.
MaybeLost_MaybeFound@reddit
I can’t do it… I can’t change my ways. I need the two spaces. I tried and I failed and I two-space.
LazarusDark@reddit
I stopped doing the double space pretty much as soon as I got out of typing class, because after that I only used computers and didn't need it. That said, as someone doing more hobby writing now, I do wish keyboards were set up for en space and em space and that maybe en space was the default between sentences. Personally I think that would be the real universal solution.
statistacktic@reddit
Hard pass.
Sirtriplenipple@reddit
2 for life. Period.
PlasmidDNA@reddit
Fuck you I’m putting 5 spaces now.
XROOR@reddit
Homicide was solved in Massachusetts because detectives knew under 15 year olds would never double space after a period in a text message
itsjakerobb@reddit
HTML and proportional fonts make me realize two spaces were pointless in the 90s. Never looked back.
spderweb@reddit
I'm 42. And two spaces is necessary. It's annoying to see otherwise.
GiganticCrow@reddit
I never heard of this before. Is this an American thing?
Different-Active1315@reddit
I type two spaces to end a sentence on my phone because it auto populates the period. Not sure if that is one or two spaces at the end, but it definitely encourages TWO spaces in my brain when doing it manually on a computer. 🤣
Stock_Currency@reddit
I recognize the council has made a decision. But given that it’s a stupid ass decision, I’ve elected to ignore it.
irishtwinsons@reddit
I know it is only one, but the habit doesn’t die.
sk3pt1c@reddit
Never used two, didn’t know that was a thing.
SnooPaintings5597@reddit
2 spaces. Always.
oskich@reddit
Never did, we had a compact black and white Macintosh at home since I was in 2nd grade, so all my school reports were done on computers since day one. Used to play around with my grandmother's typewriter when I visited her though, just to get that bell sound and to slap the machine back to the beginning forcefully 😁
log0n@reddit
No it’s a readable thing not a typewriter thing. And I will never stop.
calkhemist@reddit
I’m too far gone! Will always be 2 spaces after a period! 😂
languagehacker@reddit
I was in the two spaces after a period camp until I worked as a transcriptionist. My boss (who was Gen X if not Boomer) told me that we don't need the two spaces anymore because of the word processor, and while I'm at it, please stop typing it "altogether" and "alright" and instead type "all together" and "all right".
And as folks have already said here, shout out to the Oxford comma, a true disambiguator.
Westish@reddit
We don't use typewriters anymore, which is why one space after a period is typically the standard these days.
TermusMcFlermus@reddit
I space space read space space this space space while space space poopin space space
Illustrious-Tap8069@reddit
OOP has no period at the end of the post. Odd, to call people out and then type gibberish.
TermusMcFlermus@reddit
I read this while poopin
urbanlife78@reddit
It took me a while to stop doing this
xnef1025@reddit
Two spaces is just reflex for me because that's how I was taught. Judging people on dumb shit that doesn't matter is what old assholes do, so who's really acting like the boomer? If you're a copy editor, CTRL+F and earn your pay. If you aren't, STFU.
Abidarthegreat@reddit
I try to only do one, but I often hit two on accident.
heresmytwopence@reddit
Unless it was getting graded for having two spaces, one space forever and always!
concernedfriend08822@reddit
I will take two spaces to my grave.
Whatnowhedley@reddit
It’s muscle memory and I can’t change it now. Also, my aging eyes appreciate the extra space so I guess it’s a hill I would die on.
meatpopsicle42@reddit
It wasn’t just for typewriters. It’s for a clearer visual break that makes typed text easier to read.
Affectionate-Cut4828@reddit
I've been 1 space after the period my whole life. I had a writing heavy degree in college and 2 spaces always felt like a cheap way to pad a paper that was page count and not word count. Sometimes I accidentally add an extra space on the phone or wherever it automatically adds the space, just out of reflex.
wheresthebody@reddit
Always two. Like that.
Solid-Hedgehog9623@reddit
One if by phone, two if by laptop. I’m a home keys guy. Spring of 96 was word processor boot camp. I don’t think I could ditch the two space after the period if I tried.
AlienDelarge@reddit
I don't recall ever learning or being held to a two space convention even in typing class.
SnooMemesjellies7469@reddit
I have a secret.....
I don't indent paragraphs.
Plane_Chance863@reddit
I do one, but for anything in Word, Word decides. 😅 There's a setting for it, but back in the day it defaulted to two. I don't know if it still does.
Madmortagan68@reddit
I like the asthetic and it's easier to read
ArchSchnitz@reddit
I've always used one space. By the time I was learning typing, we were already using variable width fonts on a computer. Everything was readable.
The few times I used a typewriter, I just... used one space, or it inserted two without me knowing.
I still won't do it, and I thought it was a poor choice before. As fast as I read, one space or two makes no difference.
BobbyP27@reddit
For any situation where it is actually important, the typesetting software that generates the printed text will ignore the actual number of space characters after a . and set the space to the "correct" value for a new sentence.
amccune@reddit
He could have put one on the end sentence, however.
BobNeilandVan@reddit
I finally gave in about a year ago. You know what, 1 space is actually better.
TheAstroBastrd@reddit
u/bot-sleuth-bot
staring_at_keyboard@reddit
I do my writing in LaTex, so I just write each sentence on a new line and let the document formatter do the rest.
Chili-Potatoe@reddit
Ben-solo-11@reddit
You can pry my second space from my cold dead hands.
DarksunDaFirst@reddit
Well I am not older than 42 so therefore I will still put two spaces after a period. It’s a stop in a sentence, not a pause within it.
TheCay04@reddit
I remember being forced to do the double space when learning how to type. I didn’t for the exercises but never did it after because double space was a dumb concept for keyboard.
irelandm77@reddit
Two. Better clarity. I'm always mildly annoyed when there's a platform that screws with this.
LordLaz1985@reddit
I still do 2. Plus 2 after a colon.
GreenViagra130@reddit
Two by habit, but I try to done one for formal documents.
Quixotegut@reddit
1.
2 is archaic.
If you can't tell when a sentence ends due to punctuation, and need the double space, then you're not paying attention.
Deathclown333@reddit
If I don’t use 2 spaces, I have trouble finding the ends of sentences in a paragraph. I’m still using 2 spaces.
mcvmccarty@reddit
Whousesspaces?
Philly_3D@reddit
bfume@reddit
The book, “The Mac is not a Typewriter” formed my early computing years. You can take my extra space tap from my cold dead hands.
ADMotti@reddit
AP style (one) or kick rocks.
Shigglyboo@reddit
this isn't entirely true. it makes the rounds every so often. look it up if you don't believe me.
digitaljestin@reddit
Bullshit.
Two spaces are the best delimiter for sentences, making it more useful in the digital era, not less. Because sentences can end in one of many punctuation marks, and those marks aren't exclusively used between sentences, the two space convention should live on for simpler parsing of prose.
It was accidental that this analog convention has become so convenient in the digital world, but we'd be fools to squander it now.
ofcourseIwantpickles@reddit
Proper format is one, you can do two if you wanna be a Boomer.
CrowJane13@reddit
It’s how I learned. It’s a tough habit to break but I’m trying, dammit.
Captain_Roastbeef@reddit
It will always be 2 spaces. I can’t unlearn this.
canadasecond@reddit
The double space bar tapped is permanently edged into my brain. See?
Late_Being_7730@reddit
I’m a grant writer. My norm is 2 spaces, but if there’s a character limit, that’s one of the first/easiest things to eek under with.
mechanical_marten@reddit
If kerning were correct on pages with single space I would, but it makes the punctuation seem to disappear if you don't double space.
ristoman@reddit
Two spaces give me the creeps, like a robot trying to be human.
tgerz@reddit
43 here and I honestly don't remember if I was taught double or single space after the period. I never used a typewriter in school. Believe it or not we had three computers in our classroom. IBM with dot matrix printers.
erinhannon321@reddit
I do one space now, but sometimes none if I need room or there is a character limit. We didn’t have a typewriter at home but I remember learning two spaces on the computer in middle school keyboarding class and I used it through college.
Warrior-Cook@reddit
If it's a full paragraph, I'm doubling down. A sentence or two, well, looks like I did it there, too. .
illini02@reddit
Look, when I'm typing, its habit. It's not going to change at this point. I get that I don't need it, and young people don't need to do emojis all the time or say stupid sayings. But here we are.
No-Wonder1139@reddit
Um, I never really used a typewriter, my dad had one in his office and I played with it but never seriously used one or had a typewriter class, our computer lab at school had PCs in the 80s with a word processor, and we did 1 space after the period.
HesALittleSlow@reddit
I’m still gonna
tweedchemtrailblazer@reddit
I was taught to do two spaces in typing class in middle school. Then in high school I took a graphic design class where I learned to not do that. Haven’t done two spaces since.
BoonScepter@reddit
It's been more work to stop doing something I've built a habit of with a million repetitions over a span of decades so thanks for making a thing out of it
andy_nony_mouse@reddit
But you do need two spaces on an iPhone if you want a period and a space. Technology giveth and technology taketh away.
Appropriate-Ad-1281@reddit
Two forever
Graphic clarity 4lyfe.
Just because people can have full conversations using emojis, doesn’t mean there aren’t situations where other forms are better.
fave_no_more@reddit
At this point it's a damn reflex. It was drilled into my head starting in elementary school, DOUBLE SPACE at the end of sentences.
BabymanC@reddit
One
PM_ME_UR_BEST_1LINER@reddit
One space.
Computer fonts make it readable with one, two is unnecessary and looks ridiculous in digital documents.
-BigDaddyTex@reddit
2
RedditAntiHero@reddit
I learned to type on a typewriter and used two spaces after a period for more than 25 years. Even when writing technical documentation, I stuck with double spacing until someone pointed out about 10 years ago that one space is now standard. They were right. It took thought and practice to break the habit, but I eventually adjusted to a single space.
DonutosGames@reddit
Finally got used to 1 since Word calls it out. Also nice because, in my field, shorter documents are better. This makes them shorter.
CoffeeHQ@reddit
I’m 44. Never even heard of this (two spaces).
Ok_Forever1936@reddit
I'm going to put three now just to spite them. They can't stop me
neanderthalman@reddit
Since it seems to bother the younglings enough to speak up, I think I’d rather continue.
dm80x86@reddit
Found the boomer.
dabeeman@reddit
you need a hobby
DaddyGoose420@reddit
I did this in college to make my papers longer. Same as making all the punctuation as large of font as possible without being able to tell.
Fun4TheNight218@reddit
I was born in 1980, we got our first home computer in '83. We had a typewriter too (hell my parents probably still have it somewhere in the basement), but I was never taught or used the 2 space thing. I didn't even know it was A Thing until people started talking about not needing to do it any more.
Amyava510@reddit
I’ve never used 2 spaces and I’m 46.
B4SSF4C3@reddit
One.
OffMeta13@reddit
I still do for sure.
mrnoonan81@reddit
Two spaces. More information is better than less. A period isn't always the end of a sentence.
taleofbenji@reddit
This is a hill I'll die on. Two spaces is simply the correct answer for the U.S. Navy officials who were asked the question after their training mission said that that they agree.
See how you fucked up parsing that and had to read it twice??
Two spaces for life!!!!
ezhammer@reddit
One space boomers.
WittyClerk@reddit
That feels illegal somehow
-kindness-@reddit
Two spaces is the shiz.
jekyl42@reddit
I stopped double spacing 15+ years ago. I gladly made the switch and never looked back. And that was after 6 years in newspaper copy writing and editing.
WittyClerk@reddit
Fake News. Two spaces Forever!
ikbah_riak@reddit
I'm 43 and have no idea why anyone would do this.
Artistic-Daddy@reddit
I still do. Drives my colleague nuts. It doesn't really matter does it?