# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/61 "2018-05-09T14:24:24Z")
Long time typesetter here. Most always double spaces unless kerning for other reasons. Also done a lot of transcription. Same thing, I think it’s an industry standard. Why are we having this argument? Isn’t there enough to be at odds over in this disputational world? It’s not like it’s even anything that really matters, like, say, the Oxford comma. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/62 "2018-05-09T14:33:24Z")
Double-Spacer my whole life, and Blackberry and Android devices have been rewarding me for almost 20 years by adding the period automatically, whenever I double space, so SUCK ON IT, Single-Spacers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/63 "2018-05-09T14:34:59Z")
I honestly didn’t know. I learned typing in the 70s, so I assume double spaces. I had to open a Word document and start typing to see what I did. Two spaces. I think it would be very hard to change, but I don’t think I’ll try. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/64 "2018-05-09T14:38:50Z")
When i was growing up in the sixties and seventies, I had an old WW-2 era manual typewriter on my desk (it had belonged to my grandfather). I taught myself to type, first with one and then with two fingers, and always used one space after a period because there was no obvious reason not to. In middle school I took a typing class and was told to use two spaces. So I did. Turned out that using one space was an easy habit to break. As an adult I continued double-spacing. But then I was doing a lot of freelance writing for educational publishers, and they all started requiring manuscript in single spacing format. Something about line counts potentially being thrown off if there was double spacing. So I switched back, for everything. Turned out that using two spaces was an easy habit to break. Do people really find it easier to read documents with double spaces after periods? I’ve never found this to be the case. And if books use different spacing after periods compared to after commas, it seems to be wasted on me, because I don’t notice. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/65 "2018-05-09T15:04:39Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > If there was a poll function, I’d try it. > > I saw [an article today (safe for work)](http://mentalfloss.com/article/542272/why-you-shouldnt-trust-new-study-supports-putting-two-spaces-end-period) which talked about how it became standard back in ye olde **typsetting** days to have two spaces after the end of a sentence, and how a “new study” says we should go back to it. I didn’t realize single-spacing was ‘a thing.’ > > I write a lot for work. I’m a die hard double-spacer. And I use semicolons on long-running inclusive sentences. And I use the Oxford comma. > > Am I a holdout? 😕 > > Tripler > I refuse to type “RTFM” or “ROTFL” in a technical publication. LOL. Regarding the highlighted word “typsesetting”… You meant “typewriting”. Because typesetting systems have always had the ability to generate a long single space after a period. (Typically, either a variable-sized space for justification, or an “em” space, which as the name implies is the width of the letter “m”.) These type rules date back to before the beginning of the 20th Century. The “double space” convention is purely an outdated typewriting artifact, which uses a monospace font and requires double spacing as a shoddy imitation of a proper typographic end-of-sentence single space. Since modern computer systems mostly use proportional fonts, typewriter rules are not applicable. So, you’re certainly welcome to pretend your computer is a typewriter-connected-to-a-TV. I choose to acknowledge the actual capabilities of the sophisticated publishing device I’m using. ETA: I’m old. I learned using a typewriter at age 7, and typewriter spacing rules were applicable to computers up until the rise of fully-graphic displays with variable spacing. (Early computers were monospace, so the appropriate spacing rule for those would have been double-space, like typewriters.) I’m oldish. But I retain the mental flexibility to use the rule appropriate to the device I’m using, rather than fetishizing hipster-like on “the old ways”. ---
**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, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/66 "2018-05-09T15:11:39Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > +2 > > For all those here who think double spaces are ‘correct’, please look up ‘mono spaced alphabets’ to understand why it was standard practice on typewriters, and not standard for typesetting and modern word processing. Nope, too bad. Some study said I’m right so you can either bask in my scientific correctness or go join the woo boards, inject your keyboard with colloidal silver and rub it with Gwyneth Paltrow’s yoni rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/67 "2018-05-09T15:17:25Z")
The only thing more stupid than this article is the people who failed to read it and understand its conclusions. You should not be using a double-space after a period because your computer already adds an extra space. Who types in Courier anyway? ---
**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, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/68 "2018-05-09T15:32:42Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > And if it was, what would be your answer? Double Spacer. One isn’t doing the job. But I’ll be damned if I can find another one! ---
**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, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/69 "2018-05-09T15:33:39Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > Who types in Courier anyway? Cool kids. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/70 "2018-05-09T15:55:26Z")
I was taught two spaces when I took typewriting in high school (1973). I have since recovered and the use modern, correct form of a single space. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/71 "2018-05-09T16:29:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Learned double-spacing in typing class in high school in the late 1980s, eventually the habit. I now go with [a line break after every sentence](https://xkcd.com/1285/). Just recently referenced again, with a shout-out (sort of) to one of our forums: [https://xkcd.com/1989/](https://xkcd.com/1989/). ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/72 "2018-05-09T16:29:35Z")
Double spaced, I’m grandfathered in 😃 > [@JRDelirious](#): > > 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. +1 ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/73 "2018-05-09T16:41:10Z")
We can avoid the question completely by using ellipses … ---
**Author:** ![The\_Cabbage\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@The\_Cabbage\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Cabbage_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/74 "2018-05-09T16:41:36Z")
I learned to double-space in high school in the late 1960, and continued doing so. As far as having “the computer” change rhe number of spaces, it is no better at that than it is at correcting spelling. I also use monospaced fonts when producing anything other than plain text (for example programs, tables, or “ASCII art”), unless I m building a spreadsheet. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/75 "2018-05-09T16:50:54Z")
This is a volatile debate, and I’m not surprised to see that the one-spacers opened hostilities. You guys really seem mad at us two-spacers in these debates. I work for a government agency that uses monospaced Times New Roman font. But the official policy is: two spaces after periods. In every online discussion of this topic, one-spacers emphasize that “you can’t even tell” the difference between one space and two in a modern monospaced font. But you know what? Every single time we accidentally single-space after a period, somebody spots it immediately. People will call and say “Hey, missed a space on page 71” and they’re always correct. So it IS visible. I am a speed-reader when I concentrate, but I usually don’t bother because my regular reading speed is faster than that of anyone else I’ve met. In either method, I can read text with single spaces after periods, but it _feels_ dense and mildly annoying. Even on this forum. The extra white space serves a useful purpose. My side may lose this battle ultimately, and the valuable extra whitespace may go away, because of the widespread conviction that making it easier for ONE person to type ONCE trumps making it easier for EVERY person to read ever again. It’s the idea that the reader doesn’t matter – the same impulse behind using undefined acronyms and making up your own way to spell things. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/76 "2018-05-09T16:54:37Z")
Double space! ---
**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, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/77 "2018-05-09T16:59:19Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I work for a government agency that uses monospaced Times New Roman font. But the official policy is: two spaces after period. The point you are making is understood, just want to clear up your terminology. Times New Roman is not monospaced; it’s a proportional font. It looks to be what you’re used to and preference. For me, extra spaces are distracting, although with proportional fonts, they are not that noticeable. In one of the old threads there were links to type set in the old days (per typewriter) in proportional fonts with extra spacing (like more than an em width, about an em and a half, possibly two) after the periods and it just drove me nuts to look at it. For example, in all the board text as rendered by my browser, the spacing after the periods looks great. If it were twice that spacing, it wouldn’t “flow” in my head. It’s kind of like encountering a word o n e l e t t e r a t a t i m e (though, clearly, not that exaggerated. It just makes me hiccup a little.) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/78 "2018-05-09T17:01:20Z")
Two spaces; it just looks neater to me. ---
**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, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/79 "2018-05-09T17:02:18Z")
So for the two-spacers, does the lack of two-spacing reading this forum bug you guys? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835/80 "2018-05-09T17:04:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > So for the two-spacers, does the lack of two-spacing reading this forum bug you guys? I honestly don’t notice the difference. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-single-or-two-spacer/813835.md?page=5)