Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Two Space or Not Two Space...


So, a friend of mine posted this link on her Facebook page and I brought it up with my spouse because I thought it was funny that anyone could think otherwise. The subject in question is this: How many spaces belong at the end of a sentence? One? Two? Ten? My answer: One. Scott's answer: Two.

Wait. Two? Who ARE you? How have we been married all of these years without me knowing that you're a TWO spacer?! Thankfully, we ended the discussion without it becoming too heated...but I maintain that I am right. :)

So, I put it to you Inkers. What is the correct number of spaces after a sentence? And don't forget to ask your friends and spouses. You might be shocked at how many of them are living in a fantasy land. :)


11 comments:

  1. When i took computers/typing in high school and college they said two. In order to avoid losing points for not, the habit is there. :)

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  2. I think this question is best answered by Mighty Kirk, our resident zombie slayer/editor at large. But for me, I'm a one spacer.

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  3. Deb- I'm feeling a new bond with you. :)

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  4. One. It's always one. I don't see why anyone would even teach that it's two. It bugs me. I don't care what is 'correct' according to a book, it's always ONE people! I will never do two.

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  5. Good post Arlene. Who knew there were such strong feelings about this?

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  6. TWO! I've always done two having taken typing in the good old fashioned EAST coast. Then a year or so ago someone said TWO was outdated and with computers you only need one these days. For instance two spaces wouldn't work on Twitter. Not enough room.

    So now I waver in my fidelity to the TWO and some of my manuscripts has a mix of ONE or TWO depending on if I'm paying attention. Sir KIRK-A-LOT what is the verdict?

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  7. Somebody please track down Kirk and tell him we need an answer on this. The suspense is killing me.

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  8. Wow, I didn't realize there is still a division on this. Our generation and all before us used to use two spaces as standard. This is in part because typewriters don't use proportional type (every character takes up the exact amount of space). Since the dawn of the home computer age, it has become universally standard to do one space. So yes, all of us were taught two throughout school and possibly into college, but things are simply not done with two anymore.

    It's like the phrase "begs the question." It used to mean "that's a circular argument." Now it almost exclusively (by popular usage) means "that elicits an urgent follow-up question."

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  9. So it appears that I am as outdated as the typewriter. It hurts me deeply to be wrong. I don't know if I can retrain myself to do the one space, but I'll give it a try. I wonder how much time I will save in a day by eliminating the extra space. Hmmm

    Thanks, Kirk for the schoolin'! :)

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  10. Linda just do what I do and write your project and then at the end before sending or printing, do a find for two space and replace with one. It works great for a waffler like me.

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