Okay folks, this one’s going to annoy some of you… You must stop double spacing after periods. Period.
The practice of putting two spaces at the end of a sentence is a throwback to the days of the typewriter. For those of you born after 1975, this is a typewriter:
No, this is not an alien communication station; unless you consider anyone born before MTV an alien, which is understandable.
Most of us over a certain age were taught to type before the days of computers. Back then there wasn’t an easy way to adjust spacing between letters, and every letter had the same amount of space on either side. For example, the letter w would have the same spacing as the letter i, which is wack. This is referred to as monospaced type. The extra space at the end of a sentence was used to visually signal a pause.
Most of today’s typefaces are designed with each letter’s spacing proportional to its shape. Therefore, that extra space after a sentence is not only unnecessary—it’s kinda fugly as well. Case in point: Courier is a monospaced typeface.
These extra spaces are particularly evident when you’re reading a paragraph or more. Once you become aware of it, you’ll start seeing them everywhere. Sentence after sentence of double spacing will stand out like little rows of hillbilly teeth.
Check it out:
“Hi. I am a paragraph of text with double spacing after periods. Am I a bit overdressed? Do these spaces make me look fat? I wonder if anyone notices my extra spaces. I know neurotic graphic designers do. Do they even count though?”
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
When I was in 4th grade, we all had to take a typing class. The teacher was super adamant about putting 2 spaces after a period, and it really stuck with me. However, since you are my go-to person for all things typography related, I will start working on breaking myself of the habit. It will be a long, arduous road, but I can do it. Thanks for sharing this!!
Guilty as charged! You make a good point though. I’ll try very hard to break that habit.
This is a pet peeve of mine, too, so I love this topic! :)
Cathy, until you break the habit, you can Find > Replace [space][space] for [space] to fix a whole document.
For those of us who studied typing as part of our education, it is such an inherent part of keyboarding that it is a hard habit to break, especially when going at warp speed. I try to restrain the impulse, but is is so much like breathing that it sometimes just happens.
Thanks Lori! Old habits die hard. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy with most software to do a search and replace for those sneaky double spaces. This issue really only matters if you’re producing something in print or online, and you want to look professional. You can always “un-learn” that habit the way my friend @bwoj did—He says Twitter cured him of those pesky extra spaces! :)
Crap.
I believe (and could be totally wrong) that AP style (which is what I learned in conjunction with typing) is to utilize double spacing after sentences. But I don’t know if I can change, Weenie, what do I do? I didn’t know I had hillbilly teef!!
Lani- I’m referring to published materials. Drafts or informal work may have the double space. Claire England showed me a few resources with explanations:
MLA has an opinion about this….
http://www.mla.org/style_faq3
APA says two spaces for draft manuscripts only….
http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2009/07/on-two-spaces-following-a-period.html... See More
Chicago Manual of Style’s take….
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/OneSpaceorTwo/OneSpaceorTwo03.html
So don’t worry too much about your double spacing, Betty Lou, but you might want to stop by the dentist’s office.
Oh no! I do this all the time! Why didn’t you tell me sooner that I looked fat?
Yeah, now that 40 is fading into view, I too was victim of double spaces after periods drilled, hammered and generally abused into my brain. High school typing classes in the 80′s will do that to you. It must be just me thinking the double spaces make for better readability. Or, I simply have an undiagnosed learning disability.