Grammar Issue: Spacing After a Period

[Gruß vom Krampus]

I work in the accounting department of a public utility agency. A memo recently came from upper management asking all employees to start using one space after a period. I thought, "Lame! It must've been a slow day at the board meeting." That's exactly what my co-workers thought.

I understand that it's becoming a more common practice to use one space after a period. Link But as far as I know and based on what I learned in school, two spaces are supposed to follow a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point when starting a new sentence (or an expression).

Example: Really?[][]I didn't know that![][]Whatever.

I further understand that each company usually has its own style manual or methods of writing, but I wonder, why does this have to be such a big deal with my employer? I have no problem with people using one or two spaces, but does upper management really have to enforce it? Dumb.

What say you?

 

[Gruß vom Krampus]

To quote a colleague:

"Everyone needs some space after a period."

 

[Roger Wilco]

I've always used one space my entire life.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I've been using one since I started writing online, which was back in 1997, so there you go. HTML kind of screwed us there. But now I'm used to it, so whatever.

Silly thing to make a company policy about, though.

And why did you reply to yourself?

 

[Darth Duck]

I've used one space forever. None of my professors or editors have had a problem with it, in fact they've edited out two spaces to bring it down to one.

 

[RoJoHen]

two spaces are supposed to follow a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point

Or a colon. Basically anything that has a period on the bottom.

I prefer two spaces, just because it's what I was taught and what I got used to typing. I understand why it's not really necessary to do it anymore -- two spaces was more of a typewriter thing, and modern typing software makes the practice obsolete -- but I still do it out of habit more than anything.

That said, it does seem like a really bizarre thing for a company to enforce.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Here ya go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_spacing

Enjoy!

 

[Spot's Meow]

I was taught to use two spaces after a sentence, and the style we used in college/grad school supported it (Chicago Manual), but I know that most other styles don't or are moving away from it. I can't get out of the habit of using two spaces, so I use the handy feature in Word that automatically converts your two spaces to one (it's somewhere in the spelling/grammar settings). Sure it is lame for companies to obsess over small grammatical details, but having worked for a few government agencies, I know that nothing is too menial or insignificant to be announced in a department-wide email.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I do not think that the Chicago Manual has supported the two-space rule for a LONG time, but I could be wrong. It's been a LONG time since I've even looked inside the Chicago Manual.

 

[Timby]

Double spacing after a period stems from the era of typewriters and monospaced typefaces, in which every character occupies the same amount of space as every other. A double space was necessary at that time in order to clearly differentiate sentences. After the advent of proportional spacing in typefaces, however, the double space went the way of the dodo, as word processors automatically implement the proper spacing after periods.

 

[Lindley]

I've always used one space. I knew the two-space style was out there but never really gave it much thought. Apparently this annoys my girlfriend, who was taught to use two spaces.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I do not think that the Chicago Manual has supported the two-space rule for a LONG time, but I could be wrong. It's been a LONG time since I've even looked inside the Chicago Manual.

Well, we technically used the Turabian style of Chicago, which asks for two spaces (actually it might say that you can do either, I can't remember). I haven't looked at the 2010 version of the Chicago Manual so I don't know what that one says.

 

[St. Squigolas]

Two spaces is what separates us from the ape.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I've always used one space. I knew the two-space style was out there but never really gave it much thought. Apparently this annoys my girlfriend, who was taught to use two spaces.

One area where I seem to find myself in the minority is my use of the Oxford comma. I was taught to use it, and it makes the most logical sense to me.

 

[SG-17]

I can't even see a difference in spacing when I read digital or printed text.

 

[RoJoHen]

I've always used one space. I knew the two-space style was out there but never really gave it much thought. Apparently this annoys my girlfriend, who was taught to use two spaces.

One area where I seem to find myself in the minority is my use of the Oxford comma. I was taught to use it, and it makes the most logical sense to me.

I never knew there was debate about the Oxford comma until I joined this board. I've always used it because it's what I was taught, but I also just think it makes a lot more sense than leaving it out.

 

[beamMe]

One space; that's what I've been taught when I learned typewriting (on actual typewriters - ah... the mid 1990s)

 

[Chaos Descending]

Yeah, I'm personally an Oxford comma Two-Spacer.

 

[RoJoHen]

One space; that's what I've been taught when I learned typewriting (on actual typewriters - ah... the mid 1990s)

I was taught on computers to use two spaces...also in the mid 1990s.

 

[Kestra]

I know it's supposed to be one space, but I prefer to use two.