One space after periods, not two
I’m reading a manuscript a week for the novel class I’m taking, and I keep seeing two spaces after a period rather than one. This issue cropped up regularly at my last job, which was copyediting.
Two spaces after a period is a practice left over from the days of manual typewriters. Nearly all fonts in word-processing programs are able to ensure that one space after the period is sufficient for visual separation. Those people who continue to use two spaces end up with a document that looks off kilter.
Every time I bring this up, someone argues with me. When in doubt, I always consult The Chicago Manual of Style. Here is the answer from their website to the question of one space or two:
But introducing two spaces after the period causes problems: (1) it is inefficient, requiring an extra keystroke for every sentence; (2) even if a program is set to automatically put an extra space after a period, such automation is never foolproof; (3) there is no proof that an extra space actually improves readability…it’s probably just a matter of familiarity (Who knows? perhaps it’s actually more efficient to read with less regard for sentences as individual units of thought–many centuries ago, for example in ancient Greece, there were no spaces even between words, and no punctuation); (4) two spaces are harder to control for than one in electronic documents (I find that the earmark of a document that imposes a two-space rule is a smattering of instances of both three spaces and one space after a period, and two spaces in the middle of sentences); and (5) two spaces can cause problems with line breaks in certain programs.
So, in our efficient, modern world, I think there is no room for two spaces after a period. In the opinion of this particular copyeditor, this is a good thing.
March 20th, 2005 at 8:31 pm
Copy editor here, too!
March 21st, 2005 at 3:06 pm
I have been wondering if this had changed, but I just can’t program my fingers to one-space after periods. It’s just built into my motor memory.
March 22nd, 2005 at 5:01 pm
Vince, I suspect that there are many bloggers who have toiled as copyeditors by day. I used to annoy the traditionalists at my office because I always pushed the envelope of adoption for closed compounds like copyeditor. I figure it’s only a matter of time before there’s a hyphen, then it’s closed, so I might as well save the space, now. For more on word forms, Lisa Schmeiser at the Rage Diaries had a good entry, here
Speaking of saving the space, Jack, I encourage you to try. Two spaces was habit for me for years, but I eventually broke the habit. And since I wrote two 50K Nanowrimo novels, think how many spaces I saved!
March 22nd, 2005 at 5:14 pm
Don’t listen to her Jack, especially if you are still using emacs. That’s how they define the regexp for sentence-end.
March 24th, 2005 at 3:07 pm
My first visit here (found you at Outer Life), and already I am filled with typing indignation.
One space?! Has everyone gone mad?
Consider yourself bookmarked. I’ll stop by again, at least until my anger subsides.
April 9th, 2005 at 2:41 pm
Keith, I hope I haven’t scared you off permanently. I said I wasn’t a traditionalist in comment #3. That’s why I went to the CMS for confirmation. I figure if I’m going to espouse an unpopular new method, I might as well have the mother of all resources as my justification. Even still, as the entry notes as well as the comments (including those by my husband!), disagreement reigns.
October 30th, 2005 at 8:37 pm
I agree with Jack. I had always thought that two spaces after ending punctuation was correct, but I was intrigued when I found that WordPress did not allow me to use double spaces. Even after finding out that double spaces are obselete, I cannot change my habit of inserting two spaces after each sentence, as you can see