Two Spaces After A Period: Why You Should Never, Ever Do It

Slate Magazine:

Last month, Gawker published a series of messages that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had once written to a 19-year-old girl he'd become infatuated with. Gawker called the e-mails "creepy," "lovesick," and "stalkery"; I'd add overwrought, self-important, and dorky.

Read the whole story: Slate Magazine

Comments

[splash of reality]

11:49 PM on 01/24/2011

You are not supposed to write in contractions either for manuscripts that are to be published, but that did not seem to stop the writer.

[undsoweiter]

05:57 PM on 01/22/2011

I will continue to use two, and I will continue to open my egg from the little end.

[nongrata]

03:55 AM on 01/21/2011

"Gawker called the e-mails "creepy," "lovesick," and "stalkery". Considering they read and published private emails they are creepy and stalkery and maybe they love Assange. And i will put two spaces out of spite.

[AnotherIADem]

08:02 PM on 01/19/2011

This is clearly an age issue. Us old farts have it right: 2 spaces after a period. The Chicago Manual of Style said so until someone changed it in 21st century editions (so says a comment at Slate-- my 1970s CMS is at home, somewhere....). The CMS was more lovingly known as "Turabian" by my contemporaries. Kate Turabian, the original author, died in 1987, and is probably spinning in her grave over this discussion.

Text IS easier to read with that little extra space at the end of a sentence. My thumbs will double space after the period for the rest of my life-- no know-it-all (no-nothing) dork at Slate will ever break a cerebellar pattern so deeply ingrained.

[MrVee]

11:39 AM on 01/19/2011

I've always used two spaces after a period. Its hard to do on twitter though so I end up removing words to keep the double space. I think text reads better that way.

[Kitten of D00M]

11:34 AM on 01/19/2011

I used to use two spaces.___ Now that Mr. Manjoo has ridiculed me for it, I'm going to help myself to a THIRD space.___ I learned to type on a manual typewriter, and entered the workforce back in the Dark Ages, when mistakes were corrected by a miserable process requiring special erasers and liquid paper, and copies were made with carbon paper.___ It was a slice of hell.___ I have paid my dues and will indulge in an extra space__ or__ two___ or___ three whenever I like.___ So there.

[NancyPeske]

08:38 AM on 01/19/2011

Ctrl F, search for (type two spaces). Replace. (type one space). Replace all. Okay.
It's an easy fix.
Also, punctuation such as commas and periods go within the quotations marks. "Really?" he said.
"Really," she replied. "It's the rule."

http://www.nancypeske.com

[Marco Time]

05:46 AM on 01/19/2011

Bla bla bla

[RapidProf]

04:45 AM on 01/19/2011

Take it up with my high school typing teacher.

[muhltrayne]

11:53 PM on 01/18/2011

Not only do I use two spaces after the period, I also use two spaces after a colon. So there. Thpppppppppppp.

[Reductio Ad Absurdum]

10:33 PM on 01/18/2011

Well-respected style manuals such as The Gregg Reference Manual still recommend two spaces, as well as other supposedly passe conventions such as using a space at each end of an em-dash, and spelling possessives THE WAY THEY ARE PRONOUNCED, such as "St. Louis's airport." The reason other styles suggest stripping these conventions is an agenda to minimize punctuation itself, and thereby shorten text — exactly what you would expect from typographers, BUT NOT WRITERS.

Punctuation should not be minimized, because it enables the writer to communicate and convey intent more clearly. The phony rationale offered to support the omission of two spaces at the end of a sentence (such as "it slows the reader down") is as ridiculous as insisting that a period at the end of a headline in a print ad stops the reader.

The AP style is slowly destroying the English language, and this article's author is complicit, regardless of his haughty, feigned erudition.

[VintageMary]

10:12 PM on 01/18/2011

Am I the only one in my age group (mid to late 20s) who took typing and doesnt remember double spacing? Of course, I think I got a C in typing because I did shoddy work in order to have more time to play Oregon Trail on ancient Macs or PCs running DOS.

[Skyhawk]

10:10 PM on 01/18/2011

I learned one space after, if it's a journalism piece. Two spaces after, if it's a regular document. Oh well it's better than comma splices.

[bagfed]

08:56 PM on 01/18/2011

Look up "prig" in the dictionary and find this guy tugging at his collar.

"people who use two spaces are everywhere, their ugly error crossing every social boundary of class, education, and taste."

Every social boundary of class? You sure about that? Maybe somewhere, certainly not here in the USA.

[lily]

08:42 PM on 01/18/2011

Please, get a grip. If you can't find something more important than this to pitch a fit over, you need seriously help.