Double Spaces After a Period?
There is one space after a period, period. Historically, in medieval times, the sentence spacing from a typesetter was all over the place, maybe one space, maybe two, maybe more. Then typewriters were invented. The longer space after a sentence was made up by two spaces. I can appreciate the artistry in typing. My mother typed my father’s PhD dissertation on a portable typewriter making multiple copies at once. It was filled with graphs and tables. One mistake meant going back to the top of the page and starting over.
One of Slate.com’s most popular articles ever was reprinted today on its two-year anniversary. And it’s still worth reading. From the article:
Can I let you in on a secret? Typing double blanks after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong. ….
“Who says two spaces is wrong?” they wanted to know.
Typographers, that’s who. The people who study and design the typewritten word decided long ago that we should use one space, not two, between sentences.
The author, Manjoo Farhad, expresses himself with vigour and verve – and he’s right. Professionally set type takes out any double spaces, and the results look smooth and readable.
