On Sat, 20 Apr 2002 10:18:01 -0400 Todd Slater <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Regarding the one space or two spaces after sentence-ending punctuation, > it has more to do with monospaced vs. proportional fonts. With monospaced > fonts, the only type available on typewriters, it is (if you can find a > typewriter)/was necessary to add two spaces; on proportional fonts, as > seen on puters, it is only necessary to use one space. My college study included the work of perhaps the single authority on typography, Robert Bringhurst. In his 350-page (!) book, _The Elements of Typographic Style_, he says: "In the nineteenth century, which was a dark and inflationary age in typography and type design, many compositors were encouraged to stuff extra space between sentences. Generations of twentieth-century typists were then taught to do the same, by hitting the space-bar twice after every period. Your typing as well as your typesetting will benefit from unlearning this quaint Victorian habit." Of course, when you charge by the page, inventing a convention like this seems like a great idea :-) At any rate, the two-space style was based not on readability, but on tradition that existed long before typewriters, and a bad tradition at that. So when these references below talk about fixed vs. proportional fonts, and typewriters vs. computers, it clearly shows that they have no idea what they're talking about. History is clear on this. So believe them when they say to use one space on a computer using a proportional font, but ignore them when they advocate using two spaces under other circumstances. Miark > Want links? This discussion came up on another list I'm on. Here are a few > I culled from the archives. > > APA (see the bottom, #14): http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html#14 > > MLA: > http://www.mla.org/www_mla_org/style/style_main.asp?level=2&mode=page&page=1 > &link=sty72800121252§ion=sty51800124510 > > Chicago Manual of Style: > http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq.html#8 > > http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/wsr/csc120/wp1spa97.htm > > http://www.cmu.edu/styleguide/punctuation.html#spacing > > http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/period.htm > > There are many more, but you get the idea. > > Todd > > -- > Todd Slater > 10:03am up 1 day, 20:52, 2 users, load average: 0.01, 0.07, 0.10 > Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education. > (Bertrand Russell) > >
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