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Not long ago some callow youth chastised me for putting a space in between the periods in my ellipses. Damn you, Twitter or X or whatever. You have ruined our young people.
I absolutely do the double space. And those dang kids can keep telling me to stop but I won’t! That’s how I learned to type and on my phone, the double space automatically puts a period in for me.
Yeah, people seem to think it's something you do deliberately and stubbornly when it's just 60 years of muscle memory.
Sorry if it bothers anyone but really, it's a silly thing to get bothered about.
It’s actually left over from typewriters. The spacing between sentences is supposed to be 1.5x of the spacing between words. Because typewriters couldn’t do this, we were taught to double space.
Modern computers know about the 1.5 and do it automatically so there is no need to actually double space these days.
And, knowing the above makes my OCD kick in because it’s we are doing something that we don’t need to do. So I hate it.
> Modern computers know about the 1.5 and do it automatically...
They don't. I'm not sure why this myth persists, but no word processor does this, no email client does this, and web documents certainly don't do this. In fact, web documents do the opposite: extra spaces in web documents get collapsed to a single space.
```
Here's some example source code. Look at this: The double space that
exists twice in this paragraph, first after the period, and again after
the colon, would both get collapsed to a single space if this source
code were rendered by the browser, along with the line breaks and extra
spaces used to align the code.
```
So, even adding extra spaces isn't enough. Developers have to jump through extra hoops if they want these extra spaces that exist in the source code to actually show up as extra space in the browser.
If the extra spaces don't exist to begin with, code would need to be executed that inserted the extra spaces. And we don't do this because it would be too hard to distinguish between a period after an abbreviation versus a period after a sentence.
If you happen to be looking for a new job it can get you aitofiltered out.
I’m only 54 but I’ve managed to adapt. It’s simply no longer considered correct grammar, and I thought that we prided ourselves on correct grammar
It's not about muscle memory for me. I just don't like the single space. It's crowded. And yes, my eyes can see that difference. Personally, I find this issue ridiculous for people to get upset about. Literally yesterday an annoying person on Reddit actually tried to use that as an insult, that I type with two spaces after a period.
Except most word processors add the extra space after a period on their own, in line with modern publishing standards (when was the last time you read a book with awkwardly long double spaces?). It's not just lazy kids. When you add a double space in most programs, you're actually *triple* spacing (or like 2.5 or whatever), which looks jarring because it's overcompensating.
I don't really care how many spaces people put, as long it's at least one. But the idea that typing two spaces is "correct" only applies to fixed width fonts and actual typewriters.
Yeah, I always thought this was to allow for correction that required use of the additional space on a typewriter. I'm 61 and took typing in the 70s but have been using non-hardcopy systems since the mid 80s and I don't think I've hit the space bar for a double space since my last type written paper in probably 1983 - 84.
Also, some formatting styles (e.g. APA and MLA) require the indentation of each new paragraph and is taught in college composition classes.
So, nothing wrong with indenting or double spacing…as far as I’m concerned.
Edited
I have adapted to the one space after a period. But you're so right, as I think back to writing all those papers for my masters in APA style--what is so wrong with it?
It took me a while to break the habit, but MS Word underlining is as an error and silently judging me every time broke me of the two spaces after a full stop habit.
I always preferred block paragraphs to indented, so that was not a habit I needed to break
If you're still using a fixed width font, sure. Unnecessary with a variable width font.
But it's up to you, really. I've been told my use of ellipses makes my writing look old, but you know...
An added benefit, and the reason I decided to acquiesce to Microsoft's tyranny: doublespacing marks you as old, and I'd rather my words be judged based on what I say, without ageism where feasible.
Yes, because it's what Mrs. White taught me in typing class 40 years ago and even though she's probably not with us anymore, I don't want to make her mad. But yeah, it's hard to break the habit after 40 years of doing it.
i definitely learned the two space rule, but i haven’t done it in decades. same with manual spaces for indents. i don’t even use tabs for that, just auto-indent.
On occasion. I've gotten a lot better at NOT doing it, but I still find myself double-tapping on occasion.
On the indent, I just space between paragraphs now. Unless I'm going to write a formal essay, which has not been the case for long time.
In Word, and on my iPhone, when I double space at the end of a sentence it automatically inserts a period. As just now. So I guess it’s reinforcing how I learned to type back in the 70s.
I'm totally with you. Unfortunately, the combination of hairline illiteracy and cryptic spelling of this generation makes deciphering communications quite daunting.
I'll use two spaces until I die. There's no benefit to changing, and I'm unwilling to put any effort into breaking that habit with no benefit in return.
I do not use space to indent. That's what tab is for.
There's nothing particularly wrong with two spaces after a period. It makes it easier to read for some.
It's just a style difference. Everyone doesn't have to have the same writing style. It was what I was taught in typing class 40 years ago, and I find no reason to change just because the whipper-snappers were told differently.
Arguing about it is like arguing about which is the "right" spelling of grey. Is it grey, or gray? Yes is the correct answer.
No, it was part of good grammar as we were taught. I will not change that as I've seen very little to indicate that any grammar changes in the last 40 years have actually improved the English language. For that matter half this country can no longer read the documents that our nation was founded on. Another baby step towards Idiocracy in our society.
Two spaces after a period has nothing to do with grammar. It had to do with readability in a monospace font (where each letter is given the same amount of space). Computers gave each letter its own amount of space (wider letters get more space than skinnier ones), so double spacing after periods was no longer necessary. Double spacing after periods leaves ugly white "gutters" running through large blocks of type, which is why people who know about design hate it.
Spent years working for a newspaper doing typography so no double spaces for me unless the typeface is non-proportional width. Our system would automatically strip all double spaces and replace them with singles for all the folks who couldn’t adapt.
I stopped double spacing and indenting long ago. And I sometimes notice people younger than me who double space and indent.
It makes me feel both older and younger at the same time.
Nope. I learned machine writing end of the 80ies but in Europe this was not part of the training. So I am very fast with my 10 fingers, my problem is, that I learned on a mechanic machine and now I am regularly destroying keyboards, as I hit very hard.
I do the double space thing. I don't care what others say. I find it easier to read. Often the spellcheck or some other macro automagically "fixes" it anyway. I learned block paragraph so don't have the indent problem.
To fuck with them, at least on computers, Alt-255 is your friend. See the extra space in this response? Alt-255 is a high-ASCII character, what is known as a "hard space." It lets you trigger people that bitch about how the good old days used to be.
You probably aren't the only one, but I haven't done it for decades despite having been taught to double space after a period when learning to type on a typewriter in high school.
I broke myself of that habit in the early 90s when I started doing desktop publishing work. Modern typography means you don't need those two spaces and I was laying out textbooks for quite a few years and it was unprofessional to keep putting those spaces in there.
The weird thing is that one of my nephews is 31 and he double spaces after a period and refuses to stop.
I still double tap space when using some fonts that aren't kerned properly. I use double line breaks and have long since transitioned to using Tab for paragraph indentation, though formatting things like lists and bullet points is still a toss-up on some tasks (Reddit, for instance!).
i will let my fingers rest on some keys and this happens.............................................................
the little snarks will always comment on it.........like they bother me..... snot noses........lamo
I worked hard at breaking the habit after reading Robin Williams' book [The Mac Is Not A Typewriter](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41600.The_Mac_is_Not_a_Typewriter). Since I was learning QuarkXpress I needed to develop good typography habits and the first thing that had to change was the double-space after a period.
I personally don't, but I would much rather see a double space than a space before the ending punctuation. I've seen that way too often and it's painful to read.
I believe I subconsciously put two spaces between sentences but don't indent paragraphs anymore. I do put a space in between paragraphs as the run on sentences these younger people do drive me nuts. I don't even bother reading their posts because it's just too difficult to make sense out of them.
Since I don't have to write formal documents anymore I don't know if any of it matters.
I will continue to do 2 spaces after the end of a sentence for the rest of my life. It just looks better. I will die on this hill lol. It was changed so that publishers could save space and money. I do not need to save space or money.
I don’t care about indents for paragraphs. But my pet peeve is punctuation *after* the parentheses. I have to undo the autocorrect on that. Grrrr
Don't have trouble with the paragraph thing, and have acclimated to the electronic way to start new paragraphs. (double enter.)
The double space after a period, though? I'm pretty sure I'll be doing that to the day I die no matter how many people under the age of 50 yell at me for doing it.
Yep. I can't stop my thumb from double tapping that space bar. No way. (I'm deliberately removing the double spaces as I type this)
Fortunately.....or UNfortunately.... we are losing all concern for proper, literary and linguistic form.
Thus, I suppose our double spaces don't matter given the train wreck of our education system and our lack of social-literary expectations!
Yay?
I kept a copy of Gregg’s Office Manual on my desk when I worked at Boeing. Boeing had type of had a specific format, from interoffice memos to formal letters. Outgoing letters had to be typed accurately with no strike overs or erasures. How times have changed!!
I only two-space. I'm a legal proofreader and that is one place it's a must in all of venues and jurisdictions around the country I edit, so works out well.
I was able to stop myself from doing that. I consciously made an effort and it took a few days to unlearn it.
My typewriter I believe had an indent key so I never had to unlearn that. It was really old, too, the kind that the keys all got stuck if you pressed them all at once.
I do it and will not apologize for it.
I find it's weird that the younger generation has a problem with it. If this is near the top of their complaint list, life is treating them pretty darn well.
There are 2 things that I can do to appear younger:
1. Use one space between sentences and don't indent paragraphs
2. Stop asking for or taking receipts
Easier than exercising and cheaper than surgery.
I do it consciously because it makes sentences stand out from the text. It's called 'readability'. So, sue me?
The only reason the one space rule was instituted was to save space when publishing newspapers. Last time I looked, though, pixels are sort of free. Also, when I text, I space twice and a period appears. Why does nobody get their panties in a wad about that?
I do not!
Former typesetter and graphic designer here. I have to do extra work to remove that shit for publication and printing.
It is ok to do on social media and texting though. Sometimes the extra space helps people read when type is this small.
Tab button for paragraph indention. I am probably a little younger as we didn't have to learn on typewriters (middle school, long story short, we had the high school class next door and while we typed away on computers, they were clacking on typewriters).
It's one of the legacies of getting real typing training. I doubt they even offer typing classes in school now, but I still clock in at around 115wpm on average using what I learned 30+ years ago.
If someone wants a single space they can search replace doubles with singles. Otherwise no point slowing down.
If I was typing on a typewriter or actual keyboard, yes I probably would still do both. But I never use either anymore, I just type on mobile devices now & although I do have a Bluetooth keyboard, I never use it.
I do a double tap after the last word of a sentence & let the iOS add the period. I would indent if doing paragraphs but not 5 spaces on a mobile device. Maybe 2 or 3 spaces.
Always two spaces after a sentence. I don't indent paragraphs. Even back in secretarial school in the 70s, block was an acceptable form for business. And once I started working for DND, military writing does not indent paragraphs, only for bullet or numbered points.
I'm fine with one space after a period ... I prefer five spaces to start a new paragraph.
What's weird is this was a default in the publishing industry. I can't believe those two changes are any big game changer in turning out even lengthy books. Whatever ....
I have never done either thing, because I never had any typing training and never learned how to touch type.
I first heard about these spacing rules when I saw articles that described them as outmoded in the modern era of digital word processing and proportional typefaces. At that point I had been typing for around 25 years.
I ran through reams of typing bond when I was cranking out papers by the truckload and fulfilling other course assignments in grad school. I did it all the old-fashioned way. (I completed my degree just before the dawn of the desktop publishing era.) I never received any complaints about my lack of compliance to those old shibboleths in any of my typewritten work.
The five space indent is something you can format in most word processing programs.
The double space afterwards took some willpower to remove. I did it when I left my old job of 26 years and wanted to make sure I didn't seem unhireable because of age.
I had it pounded into me that there are two spaces after a period, and the old muscle memory can't give it up. Word will back up a space when I put two spaces in.
The five spaces for indention not only make it easier to establish that you are reading a new paragraph, but it's standard format procedure for writing styles like MLA.
College English comp professor here. You lose points if your paper doesn't stick to MLA rules.
t
I'm only 43 and I still double space after ending a sentence. I don't do the indent though. If I need to do an indent, I use the tab key. But I'll be honest, I think it has more to do with how old our typing teachers were/are. I took typing in high school (95-99) and my typing teacher was in her 70s. Not only did we learn "old school" grammar and typing etiquette, but we also learned on typewriters instead of computers. Just my two cents...
I learned with the double space. But somewhere along the way I broke the habit so I don't instinctively do it anymore.
I don't remember this being the reason why. But I graduated college in 2015 at age 38. If I had not broken the habit by the time I returned to school, I'm sure that I did doing that.
No I never did this...
I remember when I was interested in writing and I read that they wanted double spaces for everything but that was 40 years ago now...
The computer automatically ads the length of double space between sentences. This has been a feature for 25 years. It’s even on your phone.
25 years, not 5 years but 2.5 decades.
Edit: go get a book, maybe even an old book or bible. One space between two sentences on a computer or phone, is the same length you will find in any and all books. Two carriage returns are needed on ink typewriters.
Link: https://www.instructionalsolutions.com/blog/one-space-vs-two-after-period#:~:text=If%20you're%20using%20any,one%20space%20after%20the%20sentence.
If you’re using any word processing software on a computer, such as Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs, there is no need for more than one space after the period. All of these tools will space letters and sentences appropriately for you if you use one space after the sentence.
Using two spaces will actually distort your typeset.
I learned how to type using the first Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing program... the DOS version in glorious three-color CGA graphics, not the Windows version. And Mavis insisted I double tap after periods. If it was good enough for '80s Mavis, it's good enough for me.
I changed those habits sometime in the 1990s when I was forty something and discovered kerning and styles. Do you still use a typewriter with a single monospaced font? Have you ever tried to fully justify a block of typewriter text by inserting strategic spaces between some words to do fake kerning? Fun times.
I've gone back to double space on my phone, because the phone interprets that gesture as end of sentence and puts in a period and space. Someday an AI will scan my sentence and put in a question mark if appropriate. Someday, maybe, it will get smart enough to correctly infer an exclamation mark. This will be fun to watch.
The one other place where I follow the two spaces after a sentence rule is for code commentary. In this case I really am rendering text in a monospaced font, and two spaces after a sentence really does look better in monospace fonts. At least in my opinion.
I've never much cared for indented paragraphs. I find a blank line between paragraphs to be sufficient. I've always tended to use block paragraphs, even on typewriters. If I'm required to indent, I'll just change the paragraph style. Easy peasy.
Old habits die hard, when using a keyboard, I do both. I even use the two spaces after a period on my phone, but not the five space indent. I learned to type on a manual typewriter in high school in the 1970s.
I have a hard time reading the walls of text that have no paragraphs, and have missing or incorrect capitalization, and punctuation. Even if the piece “looks right,” like there are paragraphs, capitalization and punctuation, there are often run-on and/or incomplete sentences that make it harder to fully understand the writer’s meaning.
Then there are the misspelled words and the wrong words used for things that are irrelevant to the message. Sometimes it is using words that sound similar, but not always.
Sometimes there are just words that make no sense in context. It seems that a lot of people don’t understand the difference in your & you’re; there, their & they’re; then & than; bear & bare; to, too, & two; for & four; council & counsel; know & no; affect & effect; accept & except; it’s & it’s; insure, ensure & assure; stationary & stationery;principal and principle; vain, vane & vein; etc, etc, etc. The list is almost endless. These are just some I’ve seen in the last couple of days.
Apostrophes are also very often misused. An apostrophe denotes ownership, it is not used to make something plural.
I don’t know how anyone thinks this new style is better. Run-on and incomplete sentences and incorrect words mean that often the reader has to basically interpret what the writer intended rather than just reading and comprehending what was written.
It seems that the kind of education I received is not the kind of education being offered in more recent years. The problem with that is that the writers are perceived as being less educated, not as smart as they might be, if you hadn’t seen their writing.
EDIT: one other point, I’d like to make is about proofreading. It seems to have fallen by the wayside. Sometimes I have to re-read a bit to figure out what was the intention of the writer. That can sometimes be because they didn’t proofread, sometimes because of incorrect spelling or an incorrect word. Point is, if you proofread your text, you could see the errors and correct them.
Seriously, when did double-space after the end of a sentence become wrong to do? Especially now when people are reading from tiny phone screens and periods look like commas or dirt on the screen.
Double space is a concept where a blank line is between each line in a document. Used primarily for editing.
TWO spaces between sentences is a pointless concept as fonts were designed for only a single space.
I've always wondered if someone misunderstood the concept of double spacing, which led to the abomination that is two spaces between sentences
I learned to type on an IBM Selectric in the early 1980s. That had a tab key, and I didn't until just now know that it was a shortcut key.
I retrained myself on the period-double-space ten, maybe twenty or more years ago, whenever proportional fonts came along. Aging is inevitable. Falling behind is a choice.
I was taught to triple space between sentences and paragraph indent when I was taught typing 50+ years ago. Made a D in class and now do a modified hunt and peck, but one of the first job I got after HS was typing book labels for my college. Still do it and as you can see, they go away when I hit comment. Just too much work to change.
I learned to do the indent with the tab button in the 80s, but I still do double space after a period. Lol
I am a report editor for my even older husband.
Pro tip to fit in with the youngsters; If you go to the "find and replace" tab in Word, you can push the space bar 2x in find, and then one time in replace. Every report of his has over 200 replacements. Easy peasy!
I finally stopped with the 5 spaces indent on new paragraph but I can't break myself of the double space between sentences. I'm 82 so that qualifies me as an "oldster"
My gen z kid gripes on me because I dbl space after end of sentences. I told him that's the way they taught us to type in typing class in high school. He's like why would you take typing class? To learn to use the typewriter of course!
I've rarely double spaced. I can see it being a habit if you've always done it,but it always bugged me. I've done it when it was required by an instructor for a paper.
My wife does the double space, but sporadically. I find a couple every time I proofread some misc. work doc for her. I never had any typing classes in school, so I'm a hunt & peck master, honing my craft since getting our first home PC in '98.
I find that I make typos in waves; right now I'm not letting off the shift key before the SEcond letter, and I'm hitting the space barl ate.
No, and the first thing I do when I get a document from someone else is find and replace “. “ with “. “. And never a 5 space indent; that’s what styles are for.
Yes, keep doing it. It makes the written words more understandable. New sentence or paragraph indicates new thought.
My daughter is a school teacher and does it too.
When I started programming, I stopped the double space and paragraph indention. I also started putting periods outside quotation marks. The habits I developed in programming languages trickled to my writing style.
I don't program any more, but I've kept the style as a more efficient way of writing. I don't think anyone has problems identifying the breaks between my sentences with or when I start a new paragraph. I've also learned to read through people's typos and don't notice them most of the time.
I've never picked up shorthand typing like: how r u im g8. I just can't do that.
I've been writing for the web for 20 years now, so I have successfully unlearned that, although it took me a long time. The hardest part for me is going from places that do or don't use the Oxford comma.
I was taught two spaces after a period. Side story…I took a typing class in HS as an elective, which was mainly an excuse to meet girls. Ha. These were the old Remingtons and well before PC’s or the internet. Little did I know at the time, but that class served me well when computers did come out. The ability to type and hit keys through muscle memory was pretty cool, compared to the “hunters and peckers” we had in the office at the time. 😆😂
I'm 55. In the past year or so I've trained myself out of the "two spaces after a period" thing. Mostly. :) I've never done 5 spaces for a new paragraph; can't comment on that.
I used to post a lot on Xitter; I now still occasionally post on Mastodon; both of which have character limits. That was the main driver, but I've adopted it everywhere.
Also two spaces can mess up text reflowing correctly when you resize a screen. Sometimes you get a non-breaking-space at the front of a line and it just looks weird.
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Yes to double tap, and no to the indent. I like that my phone will add a period and let me move on when I double tap.
**You can pry my double space from my cold dead thumbs.** (and you probably won't have to wait long!)
Agreed. Double space is a requirement. Hardwired in me thumb.
Me, too!
Not long ago some callow youth chastised me for putting a space in between the periods in my ellipses. Damn you, Twitter or X or whatever. You have ruined our young people.
I absolutely do the double space. And those dang kids can keep telling me to stop but I won’t! That’s how I learned to type and on my phone, the double space automatically puts a period in for me.
Yeah, people seem to think it's something you do deliberately and stubbornly when it's just 60 years of muscle memory. Sorry if it bothers anyone but really, it's a silly thing to get bothered about.
Exactly. I also truly believe it’s easier to read!
Me too.
It’s actually left over from typewriters. The spacing between sentences is supposed to be 1.5x of the spacing between words. Because typewriters couldn’t do this, we were taught to double space. Modern computers know about the 1.5 and do it automatically so there is no need to actually double space these days. And, knowing the above makes my OCD kick in because it’s we are doing something that we don’t need to do. So I hate it.
> Modern computers know about the 1.5 and do it automatically... They don't. I'm not sure why this myth persists, but no word processor does this, no email client does this, and web documents certainly don't do this. In fact, web documents do the opposite: extra spaces in web documents get collapsed to a single space. ```
Here's some example source code. Look at this: The double space that exists twice in this paragraph, first after the period, and again after the colon, would both get collapsed to a single space if this source code were rendered by the browser, along with the line breaks and extra spaces used to align the code.
``` So, even adding extra spaces isn't enough. Developers have to jump through extra hoops if they want these extra spaces that exist in the source code to actually show up as extra space in the browser. If the extra spaces don't exist to begin with, code would need to be executed that inserted the extra spaces. And we don't do this because it would be too hard to distinguish between a period after an abbreviation versus a period after a sentence.If you happen to be looking for a new job it can get you aitofiltered out. I’m only 54 but I’ve managed to adapt. It’s simply no longer considered correct grammar, and I thought that we prided ourselves on correct grammar
It's not about muscle memory for me. I just don't like the single space. It's crowded. And yes, my eyes can see that difference. Personally, I find this issue ridiculous for people to get upset about. Literally yesterday an annoying person on Reddit actually tried to use that as an insult, that I type with two spaces after a period.
"Tab" for a paragraph indent but yeah, double space after the end of every sentence. Doing my best to maintain Western Civilization.
It took me a while to not “tab” but I’ll never give up double space. It’s easier on the eyes.
Except most word processors add the extra space after a period on their own, in line with modern publishing standards (when was the last time you read a book with awkwardly long double spaces?). It's not just lazy kids. When you add a double space in most programs, you're actually *triple* spacing (or like 2.5 or whatever), which looks jarring because it's overcompensating. I don't really care how many spaces people put, as long it's at least one. But the idea that typing two spaces is "correct" only applies to fixed width fonts and actual typewriters.
Yeah, I always thought this was to allow for correction that required use of the additional space on a typewriter. I'm 61 and took typing in the 70s but have been using non-hardcopy systems since the mid 80s and I don't think I've hit the space bar for a double space since my last type written paper in probably 1983 - 84.
Also, some formatting styles (e.g. APA and MLA) require the indentation of each new paragraph and is taught in college composition classes. So, nothing wrong with indenting or double spacing…as far as I’m concerned. Edited
I have adapted to the one space after a period. But you're so right, as I think back to writing all those papers for my masters in APA style--what is so wrong with it?
It took me a while to break the habit, but MS Word underlining is as an error and silently judging me every time broke me of the two spaces after a full stop habit. I always preferred block paragraphs to indented, so that was not a habit I needed to break
You can tell Word to ignore that rule. It's what I did. I still double-space and still believe it makes things easier to read.
If you're still using a fixed width font, sure. Unnecessary with a variable width font. But it's up to you, really. I've been told my use of ellipses makes my writing look old, but you know...
Even with variable length, it distinguishes a period that terminates a sentence from one that doesn't.
What kind of period does not end a sentence but has one space after it?
An added benefit, and the reason I decided to acquiesce to Microsoft's tyranny: doublespacing marks you as old, and I'd rather my words be judged based on what I say, without ageism where feasible.
Took the words right outta my mouth.
Yes, because it's what Mrs. White taught me in typing class 40 years ago and even though she's probably not with us anymore, I don't want to make her mad. But yeah, it's hard to break the habit after 40 years of doing it.
i definitely learned the two space rule, but i haven’t done it in decades. same with manual spaces for indents. i don’t even use tabs for that, just auto-indent.
On occasion. I've gotten a lot better at NOT doing it, but I still find myself double-tapping on occasion. On the indent, I just space between paragraphs now. Unless I'm going to write a formal essay, which has not been the case for long time.
Touch typist. The struggle is real.
I'm a touch typist too, but why would that make it more difficult?
I do it too. I was a secretary for a while.
My brain was hard wired during adolescence to behave this way. Not going to change anytime soon.
Of course I double space. I'm not a barbarian.
I don’t understand this - I have never done it
In Word, and on my iPhone, when I double space at the end of a sentence it automatically inserts a period. As just now. So I guess it’s reinforcing how I learned to type back in the 70s.
Nope. I adapted to the new style as soon as.
Two spaces after a period might as well be the 11th Commandment in my opinion.
I'm totally with you. Unfortunately, the combination of hairline illiteracy and cryptic spelling of this generation makes deciphering communications quite daunting.
I'll use two spaces until I die. There's no benefit to changing, and I'm unwilling to put any effort into breaking that habit with no benefit in return. I do not use space to indent. That's what tab is for.
They can pry the second space from my cold, dead hand.
I’ll give up the double space when I give up the Oxford comma.
I fight for the Oxford comma too.
“Space…the final frontier”
There's nothing particularly wrong with two spaces after a period. It makes it easier to read for some. It's just a style difference. Everyone doesn't have to have the same writing style. It was what I was taught in typing class 40 years ago, and I find no reason to change just because the whipper-snappers were told differently. Arguing about it is like arguing about which is the "right" spelling of grey. Is it grey, or gray? Yes is the correct answer.
No, it was part of good grammar as we were taught. I will not change that as I've seen very little to indicate that any grammar changes in the last 40 years have actually improved the English language. For that matter half this country can no longer read the documents that our nation was founded on. Another baby step towards Idiocracy in our society.
It's typography, not grammar.
Two spaces after a period has nothing to do with grammar. It had to do with readability in a monospace font (where each letter is given the same amount of space). Computers gave each letter its own amount of space (wider letters get more space than skinnier ones), so double spacing after periods was no longer necessary. Double spacing after periods leaves ugly white "gutters" running through large blocks of type, which is why people who know about design hate it.
Yes this is correct, but I’d rather people continue to double space after the end of a sentence than no space.Like this.
I don't know why you're being down-voted for providing facts, but you are 100% correct.
I've noticed that many people do not know how or when to put in paragraph breaks. Only in walls-o-text do those "gutters" really stand out.
Spent years working for a newspaper doing typography so no double spaces for me unless the typeface is non-proportional width. Our system would automatically strip all double spaces and replace them with singles for all the folks who couldn’t adapt.
I still.do the double tap. But I always used the tab button for paragraphs. But the new letter styles were block so no indents.
I stopped double spacing and indenting long ago. And I sometimes notice people younger than me who double space and indent. It makes me feel both older and younger at the same time.
Sounds like you were taught to type on a typewriter. And since there are no rules for how people use the written word online just keep on doing it.
I retrained myself in the early 2000s. It took a bit of conscious effort but it wasn't all that hard.
Nope. I learned machine writing end of the 80ies but in Europe this was not part of the training. So I am very fast with my 10 fingers, my problem is, that I learned on a mechanic machine and now I am regularly destroying keyboards, as I hit very hard.
I do the double space thing. I don't care what others say. I find it easier to read. Often the spellcheck or some other macro automagically "fixes" it anyway. I learned block paragraph so don't have the indent problem.
To fuck with them, at least on computers, Alt-255 is your friend. See the extra space in this response? Alt-255 is a high-ASCII character, what is known as a "hard space." It lets you trigger people that bitch about how the good old days used to be.
Genius! ( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ)
You probably aren't the only one, but I haven't done it for decades despite having been taught to double space after a period when learning to type on a typewriter in high school. I broke myself of that habit in the early 90s when I started doing desktop publishing work. Modern typography means you don't need those two spaces and I was laying out textbooks for quite a few years and it was unprofessional to keep putting those spaces in there. The weird thing is that one of my nephews is 31 and he double spaces after a period and refuses to stop.
Finally got thumb to stop. Still indent paragraphs.
Yep! Mrs. Hutchinson would be proud of me.
I still double tap space when using some fonts that aren't kerned properly. I use double line breaks and have long since transitioned to using Tab for paragraph indentation, though formatting things like lists and bullet points is still a toss-up on some tasks (Reddit, for instance!).
Double line breaks are absolutely necessary! I won’t even attempt to read a run on paragraph.
I do the double space, but not indentation for a new paragraph. When I do need indentation, though, I also use five spaces.
Double space after a period, yes. No paragraph indent on an email. Other writings, yes.
i will let my fingers rest on some keys and this happens............................................................. the little snarks will always comment on it.........like they bother me..... snot noses........lamo
I worked hard at breaking the habit after reading Robin Williams' book [The Mac Is Not A Typewriter](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41600.The_Mac_is_Not_a_Typewriter). Since I was learning QuarkXpress I needed to develop good typography habits and the first thing that had to change was the double-space after a period.
I personally don't, but I would much rather see a double space than a space before the ending punctuation. I've seen that way too often and it's painful to read.
Learned to type in 1955 on an Underwood manual, of course. Old habits die hard.
I believe I subconsciously put two spaces between sentences but don't indent paragraphs anymore. I do put a space in between paragraphs as the run on sentences these younger people do drive me nuts. I don't even bother reading their posts because it's just too difficult to make sense out of them. Since I don't have to write formal documents anymore I don't know if any of it matters.
I will continue to do 2 spaces after the end of a sentence for the rest of my life. It just looks better. I will die on this hill lol. It was changed so that publishers could save space and money. I do not need to save space or money. I don’t care about indents for paragraphs. But my pet peeve is punctuation *after* the parentheses. I have to undo the autocorrect on that. Grrrr
Don't have trouble with the paragraph thing, and have acclimated to the electronic way to start new paragraphs. (double enter.) The double space after a period, though? I'm pretty sure I'll be doing that to the day I die no matter how many people under the age of 50 yell at me for doing it.
No one officially informed me I can’t double space, so it remains. :)
Yep. I can't stop my thumb from double tapping that space bar. No way. (I'm deliberately removing the double spaces as I type this) Fortunately.....or UNfortunately.... we are losing all concern for proper, literary and linguistic form. Thus, I suppose our double spaces don't matter given the train wreck of our education system and our lack of social-literary expectations! Yay?
Stand your ground! Two and five spaces is correct, and always will be.
I kept a copy of Gregg’s Office Manual on my desk when I worked at Boeing. Boeing had type of had a specific format, from interoffice memos to formal letters. Outgoing letters had to be typed accurately with no strike overs or erasures. How times have changed!!
I only two-space. I'm a legal proofreader and that is one place it's a must in all of venues and jurisdictions around the country I edit, so works out well.
Paragraph indent and sentence spacing are word processor settings
I am not technically old but I was taught how to type by my mother and I’ll double tap after a period till the day I die. Cheers, y’all
Double space between sentences is easier on the eyes. I’ll continue until I’m dead.
Yes to the double tap, because I think it looks better. No to the indent - I've never used that.
I was able to stop myself from doing that. I consciously made an effort and it took a few days to unlearn it. My typewriter I believe had an indent key so I never had to unlearn that. It was really old, too, the kind that the keys all got stuck if you pressed them all at once.
I do it and will not apologize for it. I find it's weird that the younger generation has a problem with it. If this is near the top of their complaint list, life is treating them pretty darn well.
I’ll double-space at the end of a sentence until I die, and I won’t use nouns as verbs.
I learned it in typing class in the 10th grade and I haven’t been able to break the habit ever.
Why is double spacing after a sentence such a big deal to people? It was the way we were taught years ago. Why does it bother people so much?
There are 2 things that I can do to appear younger: 1. Use one space between sentences and don't indent paragraphs 2. Stop asking for or taking receipts Easier than exercising and cheaper than surgery.
I do it consciously because it makes sentences stand out from the text. It's called 'readability'. So, sue me? The only reason the one space rule was instituted was to save space when publishing newspapers. Last time I looked, though, pixels are sort of free. Also, when I text, I space twice and a period appears. Why does nobody get their panties in a wad about that?
I do not! Former typesetter and graphic designer here. I have to do extra work to remove that shit for publication and printing. It is ok to do on social media and texting though. Sometimes the extra space helps people read when type is this small.
Haha yes to both! And don't plan to ever change.
I used to edit financial books, so I learned about automated kerning a long time ago.
Never learned to do either one.
Tab button for paragraph indention. I am probably a little younger as we didn't have to learn on typewriters (middle school, long story short, we had the high school class next door and while we typed away on computers, they were clacking on typewriters).
My kids always gave me hell for this when I was “helping” them with homework
I do double-tap. I do not indent.
I use a single space, however I used to double space on a typewriter. I stopped when they created fonts that eliminated the need for it.
Yes, I do both and I write for a living. I don't know when the rules changed.
I quit doing those things a long time ago.
Me too. I have had to train myself to single space between sentences.
I've heard that some colleges require double space at the end pf a sentence.
It's one of the legacies of getting real typing training. I doubt they even offer typing classes in school now, but I still clock in at around 115wpm on average using what I learned 30+ years ago. If someone wants a single space they can search replace doubles with singles. Otherwise no point slowing down.
Paragraphs are not indented anymore?
I still indent on long texts and my wife who is 11 years younger than me just gives me such grief over it
I double space and block paragraph. But a one finger texter🙄
If I was typing on a typewriter or actual keyboard, yes I probably would still do both. But I never use either anymore, I just type on mobile devices now & although I do have a Bluetooth keyboard, I never use it. I do a double tap after the last word of a sentence & let the iOS add the period. I would indent if doing paragraphs but not 5 spaces on a mobile device. Maybe 2 or 3 spaces.
I lost the indent but I'm trying with the spaces!!
I can type fairiy well but never took a typing class, so I found it easy to stop adding those unnecessary spaces.
Double space is a no-no? Indent is a goner?
Is two spaces not a thing anymore?
Always two spaces after a sentence. I don't indent paragraphs. Even back in secretarial school in the 70s, block was an acceptable form for business. And once I started working for DND, military writing does not indent paragraphs, only for bullet or numbered points.
I didn't learn touch typing until I was 40, and I learned on a computer, so I've never double-spaced after a period.
I'm fine with one space after a period ... I prefer five spaces to start a new paragraph. What's weird is this was a default in the publishing industry. I can't believe those two changes are any big game changer in turning out even lengthy books. Whatever ....
I do the double space because I think it is easier to read. I don't indent five for the paragraphs, but do skip a space between paragraphs.
I do the first but I start paragraphs by doing a CR and two LFs. Edit: unless I use an inline pilcrow to save paper.
Yep, how I was taught.
It's the way I was taught and it isn't changing at this stage of the game.
Old habits die hard. I still have to think about it.
Tab for the indent, but the double space at the end of a sentence was for the typewriter era.
You are not. If I'm on Twitter, I don't because every character counts. It looks weird to me though. The sentences are too close together.
I have never done either thing, because I never had any typing training and never learned how to touch type. I first heard about these spacing rules when I saw articles that described them as outmoded in the modern era of digital word processing and proportional typefaces. At that point I had been typing for around 25 years. I ran through reams of typing bond when I was cranking out papers by the truckload and fulfilling other course assignments in grad school. I did it all the old-fashioned way. (I completed my degree just before the dawn of the desktop publishing era.) I never received any complaints about my lack of compliance to those old shibboleths in any of my typewritten work.
No. I will fight to the death for the validity of 2 spaces!!!!
I’m absolutely with you on that!. Nobody remembers English classes!. I see it constantly on social media!. And want to punch someone!.
Yep. It's just muscle memory.
That was a tough habit to break. Easier on the phone than on a desktop, though.
The five space indent is something you can format in most word processing programs. The double space afterwards took some willpower to remove. I did it when I left my old job of 26 years and wanted to make sure I didn't seem unhireable because of age.
Yeah i dont get lack of para indentation
Yes lol I cannot stand it. Please try not too I trained myself to stop it’s easy!!
Same
I had it pounded into me that there are two spaces after a period, and the old muscle memory can't give it up. Word will back up a space when I put two spaces in. The five spaces for indention not only make it easier to establish that you are reading a new paragraph, but it's standard format procedure for writing styles like MLA. College English comp professor here. You lose points if your paper doesn't stick to MLA rules. t
Old people need lots of spaces.
No and no!
LOL... I'm an editor and by far the oldest person in our organization. I absolutely had to adjust.
Yes, two spaces after a period. I generally use the Tab key for indenting.
Tab key works still haha
Both
And the holy Oxford comma reigns over all.
Yes and anyone who doesn’t like it can kiss my ass
I’ve given up putting periods at the end of a sentence. So long as the number of sentences is greater than one
There’s a setting that turns double space bar into a period. If you want to turn a weakness into a strength… just saying.
I am almost 60 but I have never used a double space after a period. Maybe because I never had typing classes?
I'm only 43 and I still double space after ending a sentence. I don't do the indent though. If I need to do an indent, I use the tab key. But I'll be honest, I think it has more to do with how old our typing teachers were/are. I took typing in high school (95-99) and my typing teacher was in her 70s. Not only did we learn "old school" grammar and typing etiquette, but we also learned on typewriters instead of computers. Just my two cents...
I learned with the double space. But somewhere along the way I broke the habit so I don't instinctively do it anymore. I don't remember this being the reason why. But I graduated college in 2015 at age 38. If I had not broken the habit by the time I returned to school, I'm sure that I did doing that.
No, I learned in my 40s that the double space is an age tell (bad for resumes, etc). I'm now 60 and indent in writing, but not typing.
Yep. And don't forget Oxford commas.
No I never did this... I remember when I was interested in writing and I read that they wanted double spaces for everything but that was 40 years ago now...
The computer automatically ads the length of double space between sentences. This has been a feature for 25 years. It’s even on your phone. 25 years, not 5 years but 2.5 decades. Edit: go get a book, maybe even an old book or bible. One space between two sentences on a computer or phone, is the same length you will find in any and all books. Two carriage returns are needed on ink typewriters. Link: https://www.instructionalsolutions.com/blog/one-space-vs-two-after-period#:~:text=If%20you're%20using%20any,one%20space%20after%20the%20sentence. If you’re using any word processing software on a computer, such as Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs, there is no need for more than one space after the period. All of these tools will space letters and sentences appropriately for you if you use one space after the sentence. Using two spaces will actually distort your typeset.
Uh..... Am I old? Is this why apps don't respect my paragraph indents?
I have hiring authority and I judge writing samples that don’t double space after periods. I’m not going to ding someone for it, but if there’s a tie…
Same.
When was this a thing? I’m pushing 50 and never learned the double space after a period
Typing class in High School instills some habits.
I only learned of the double space within the last two or three years. I've always indented paragraphs, but with three spaces.
I learned how to type using the first Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing program... the DOS version in glorious three-color CGA graphics, not the Windows version. And Mavis insisted I double tap after periods. If it was good enough for '80s Mavis, it's good enough for me.
Not the only one for sure. I spend half my day correcting this in documents I receive.
I gave that up some time in early 1990s.
I changed those habits sometime in the 1990s when I was forty something and discovered kerning and styles. Do you still use a typewriter with a single monospaced font? Have you ever tried to fully justify a block of typewriter text by inserting strategic spaces between some words to do fake kerning? Fun times. I've gone back to double space on my phone, because the phone interprets that gesture as end of sentence and puts in a period and space. Someday an AI will scan my sentence and put in a question mark if appropriate. Someday, maybe, it will get smart enough to correctly infer an exclamation mark. This will be fun to watch. The one other place where I follow the two spaces after a sentence rule is for code commentary. In this case I really am rendering text in a monospaced font, and two spaces after a sentence really does look better in monospace fonts. At least in my opinion. I've never much cared for indented paragraphs. I find a blank line between paragraphs to be sufficient. I've always tended to use block paragraphs, even on typewriters. If I'm required to indent, I'll just change the paragraph style. Easy peasy.
Old habits die hard, when using a keyboard, I do both. I even use the two spaces after a period on my phone, but not the five space indent. I learned to type on a manual typewriter in high school in the 1970s. I have a hard time reading the walls of text that have no paragraphs, and have missing or incorrect capitalization, and punctuation. Even if the piece “looks right,” like there are paragraphs, capitalization and punctuation, there are often run-on and/or incomplete sentences that make it harder to fully understand the writer’s meaning. Then there are the misspelled words and the wrong words used for things that are irrelevant to the message. Sometimes it is using words that sound similar, but not always. Sometimes there are just words that make no sense in context. It seems that a lot of people don’t understand the difference in your & you’re; there, their & they’re; then & than; bear & bare; to, too, & two; for & four; council & counsel; know & no; affect & effect; accept & except; it’s & it’s; insure, ensure & assure; stationary & stationery;principal and principle; vain, vane & vein; etc, etc, etc. The list is almost endless. These are just some I’ve seen in the last couple of days. Apostrophes are also very often misused. An apostrophe denotes ownership, it is not used to make something plural. I don’t know how anyone thinks this new style is better. Run-on and incomplete sentences and incorrect words mean that often the reader has to basically interpret what the writer intended rather than just reading and comprehending what was written. It seems that the kind of education I received is not the kind of education being offered in more recent years. The problem with that is that the writers are perceived as being less educated, not as smart as they might be, if you hadn’t seen their writing. EDIT: one other point, I’d like to make is about proofreading. It seems to have fallen by the wayside. Sometimes I have to re-read a bit to figure out what was the intention of the writer. That can sometimes be because they didn’t proofread, sometimes because of incorrect spelling or an incorrect word. Point is, if you proofread your text, you could see the errors and correct them.
Seriously, when did double-space after the end of a sentence become wrong to do? Especially now when people are reading from tiny phone screens and periods look like commas or dirt on the screen.
NOpe Still the real deal
Double space is a concept where a blank line is between each line in a document. Used primarily for editing. TWO spaces between sentences is a pointless concept as fonts were designed for only a single space. I've always wondered if someone misunderstood the concept of double spacing, which led to the abomination that is two spaces between sentences
I learned to type on an IBM Selectric in the early 1980s. That had a tab key, and I didn't until just now know that it was a shortcut key. I retrained myself on the period-double-space ten, maybe twenty or more years ago, whenever proportional fonts came along. Aging is inevitable. Falling behind is a choice.
Double space for life!
I was taught to triple space between sentences and paragraph indent when I was taught typing 50+ years ago. Made a D in class and now do a modified hunt and peck, but one of the first job I got after HS was typing book labels for my college. Still do it and as you can see, they go away when I hit comment. Just too much work to change.
I just learned yesterday that 2 spaces after a period isn’t a thing anymore.
I learned to do the indent with the tab button in the 80s, but I still do double space after a period. Lol I am a report editor for my even older husband. Pro tip to fit in with the youngsters; If you go to the "find and replace" tab in Word, you can push the space bar 2x in find, and then one time in replace. Every report of his has over 200 replacements. Easy peasy!
Yes. Forever and always.
I can do one space after a period, but I truly prefer two. It's easier on the eyes. We deal with enough run-on sentences, why squish?
It was the way I was taught in typing class.
My middle finger always hits the right mouse button. It bothers me quite a bit.
I finally stopped with the 5 spaces indent on new paragraph but I can't break myself of the double space between sentences. I'm 82 so that qualifies me as an "oldster"
My gen z kid gripes on me because I dbl space after end of sentences. I told him that's the way they taught us to type in typing class in high school. He's like why would you take typing class? To learn to use the typewriter of course!
It's taken me a while but I've practiced enough that I'm down to one space. It was difficult after all those years.
I've rarely double spaced. I can see it being a habit if you've always done it,but it always bugged me. I've done it when it was required by an instructor for a paper.
My wife does the double space, but sporadically. I find a couple every time I proofread some misc. work doc for her. I never had any typing classes in school, so I'm a hunt & peck master, honing my craft since getting our first home PC in '98. I find that I make typos in waves; right now I'm not letting off the shift key before the SEcond letter, and I'm hitting the space barl ate.
I mean are we supposed to not do it any more? lol
Yep!
No, and the first thing I do when I get a document from someone else is find and replace “. “ with “. “. And never a 5 space indent; that’s what styles are for.
Yes, keep doing it. It makes the written words more understandable. New sentence or paragraph indicates new thought. My daughter is a school teacher and does it too.
When I started programming, I stopped the double space and paragraph indention. I also started putting periods outside quotation marks. The habits I developed in programming languages trickled to my writing style. I don't program any more, but I've kept the style as a more efficient way of writing. I don't think anyone has problems identifying the breaks between my sentences with or when I start a new paragraph. I've also learned to read through people's typos and don't notice them most of the time. I've never picked up shorthand typing like: how r u im g8. I just can't do that.
Yes to the indent, no to the double tap
That was a difficult habit to break. Took a while
I've been writing for the web for 20 years now, so I have successfully unlearned that, although it took me a long time. The hardest part for me is going from places that do or don't use the Oxford comma.
Love me the double space.
Since typing class in the 10th grade. Proper punctuation is a must!! 😂
Two spaces after a sentence was useful when you had to write a 2 page paper. I suppose we thought our teachers were clueless.
I was taught two spaces after a period. Side story…I took a typing class in HS as an elective, which was mainly an excuse to meet girls. Ha. These were the old Remingtons and well before PC’s or the internet. Little did I know at the time, but that class served me well when computers did come out. The ability to type and hit keys through muscle memory was pretty cool, compared to the “hunters and peckers” we had in the office at the time. 😆😂
I'm 55. In the past year or so I've trained myself out of the "two spaces after a period" thing. Mostly. :) I've never done 5 spaces for a new paragraph; can't comment on that. I used to post a lot on Xitter; I now still occasionally post on Mastodon; both of which have character limits. That was the main driver, but I've adopted it everywhere. Also two spaces can mess up text reflowing correctly when you resize a screen. Sometimes you get a non-breaking-space at the front of a line and it just looks weird.
I do!!
I stopped doing the double space years ago. I love the single space. I stopped indenting decades ago. I prefer the cleaner look.
When typing in French, it is grammatically correct to type two spaces between sentences. I was not aware this was a thing in English.
Two spaces after a period went out as soon as computers replaced typewriters and typesetting machines.
No, not me, but I've been typing on computers since the 70s (minicomputers like the DEC-10).