# Are you a single, or two-spacer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835 "2018-05-09T00:25:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/21 "2018-05-09T01:27:45Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > No, it was not standard back in ye old typesetting days to put in two spaces. First of all, what went after a period was a fixed space, intended to be perhaps different than the variable space between the other words but in any case no smaller. > > In typing, as opposed to typesetting, people were taught to use two spaces after a period, and a lot of them continue to do it to this day. > > Working as an editor, I would see two spaces on the typed page, but it was always one space when typeset. Early photo-typesetters would, if you put in two spaces, often start a line with a space, which is pretty much a no-no. And then they started just automatically deleting one of the spaces, if the typesetter put in two. > > I’m now doing work for people who prefer two spaces after a period “for readability” and at the same time doing editing, now onscreen editing, where the first thing I have to do is take out all the extra spaces. +1 ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/22 "2018-05-09T01:29:51Z")
> [@stretch](#): > > Two spaces, and fuck all the times I’ve cut and pasted something, only to lose my two spaces and having to edit them back in. One space does not provide the correct visual cue that the sentence has ended. Agreed. Someone should invent some kind of marking to let us know when a sentenced has ended. So we can know that is has indeed actally ended. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/23 "2018-05-09T01:50:17Z")
Neither. I use tab. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/24 "2018-05-09T01:50:33Z")
Meanwhile, on my handheld device, when you double space after a phrase it just automatically puts in a period and capitalizes the next word, kerned to proper separation from the period. So someone figured how to work with people’s quirks. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/25 "2018-05-09T01:53:24Z")
I was taught to double space in “keyboarding” class as a freshman in high school, circa 1982. Much, much later I learned that it’s only really appropriate for monospaced typefaces which I never use any more. I try to single space, but it’s a very hard habit to break. > [@pulykamell](#): > > You do realize there is only one space in between your two sentences there, right? The board software removes all spaces except one, unless you use the code tag. I typed ten spaces immediately before this sentence, but you’ll never see nine of them. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/26 "2018-05-09T01:53:49Z")
I thought this thread was going to be about parking. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/27 "2018-05-09T02:02:39Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I thought this thread was going to be about parking. I thought it was gonna be about Ghetto BMW CV shaft repair. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/28 "2018-05-09T02:02:55Z")
Two spaces are wrong UNLESS you are currently using an actual pre-1980s style typewriter, or unless you’re using particular software that is set up to malfunction if you single space. The fact that you may have **learned** on a typewriter is not relevant, unless you figure I should start my automatic-transmission car locked in “1”, and then depress the clutch pedal and move the lever to “2” at the appropriate moment. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/29 "2018-05-09T02:03:31Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > The board software removes all spaces except one, unless you use the code tag. I typed ten spaces immediately before this sentence, but you’ll never see nine of them. Yes, I pretty clearly know that, as that was the point of that post and the following one where I show examples of one, two, six, and eighteen spaces, and where I say "They all render as one, unless you use the [noparse] ```auto ``` [/noparse] tag." (That said, I see your extra spaces when I quote to reply. There was only one space in **stretch** ’s post, although that was not the point of my post, but rather that it doesn’t matter, as the board ignores multiple spaces.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/30 "2018-05-09T02:09:28Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I took typing in Junior High back in 1971, and it was drilled into me then that it was two spaces after a period. > > That’s never left me. I learned double spacing in junior high in 1976, and I’m managed to unlearn that. I use single space most of the time. I occasionally lapse into double space but for the most part I’m converted. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/31 "2018-05-09T02:11:13Z")
It isn’t the board software cutting out the spaces, it’s your own browser and it’s doing it on all webpages you view. It’s part of the HTML standard for how a browser should render things when displaying a proportional font. We’ve had this discussion [before](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11584341#post11584341). ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/32 "2018-05-09T02:25:50Z")
Learned double space in high school typing, and have never bothered to try to retrain myself - it really doesn’t make a difference, does it? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/33 "2018-05-09T02:31:11Z")
I use two spaces so I don’t have to remember not to. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/34 "2018-05-09T02:44:30Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I heard of older people doing the two space thing when I was in high school but I never did and neither did any of my classmates. I graduated in 1991. I don’t understand the point especially with modern word processors. I personally think it is an archaic custom and I know that it isn’t generally taught anymore. Huh. I graduated in 1991 and was taught to double space after a period. I guess my school was more right than yours! (Gloat, gloat, gloat) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/35 "2018-05-09T02:47:22Z")
Always two spaces. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/36 "2018-05-09T03:01:01Z")
Two spaces was always intended for one purpose and one purpose only: articles typed on a typewriter and presented doubled-spaced on paper. Nobody else in the world ever used double spaces. That included all books, and newspapers, and magazines, and journals, and catalogs, and brochures, and graffiti. Not even the very old British style of putting a space before punctuation (as in ; or .) committed the lunacy of adding a second space after the period. As soon as the idiocy of manually producing typed paper copies of anything disappeared, the idiocy of double spaces should have instantly disappeared. I got my first typewriter over 50 years ago so I spent decades in the paper nightmare. Monospaced typefaces are the devil’s diarrhea. Computers are wonderful. I thought so the first time I used one, and I continue to think so today. There is simply no objective excuse for ever using a monospaced typefont or double spaces in today’s world. No, I don’t have a strong opinion on this. Why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/37 "2018-05-09T03:02:58Z")
Nobody ever taught me to type, so nobody ever told me how many spaces to use. So I’ve just always used one space, because that was what came naturally. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/38 "2018-05-09T03:10:21Z")
If we were meant to double space, why wouldn’t they just make a single space twice as long? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/39 "2018-05-09T03:23:27Z")
I never took typing lessons, and it never occurred to me to double space after a period. And FWIW the text in this thread all looks like it’s spaced exactly the same, whether you claimed you single or double spaced. Double spacing would just add a step that is noticed by no one, and ain’t nobody got time for that. So I’m staying firmly in the single space camp. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/40 "2018-05-09T03:25:38Z")
I doubled all through school. My first job out of college was as a reporter. My editor cured me of the double space right quick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835.md?page=3)