Bad News About Double Spacing
>> 16 August 2009
This is programmed into my brain. This is as automatic as breathing. I am psychologically incapable of typing a period without following it up with two taps on the space bar. Sometimes -- and this is a little bit sad -- when I think about words and sentences before I write them, I imagine them with a period at the end, followed by a double space.
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BAD NEWS! According to hearsay, the double space is out. Old news. Yesterday's newspaper. Newspapers generally. Done with.
I've been told by numerous credible sources that modern style guides are advocating a single space between sentences. Let me say that again in bold and in CAPS so that everyone understands what's going on here: STYLE GUIDES ARE ADVOCATING A SINGLE SPACE BETWEEN SENTENCES! Yes, you read that correctly, and yes, it is shocking!
Apparently, the double space between sentences is a relic of the days when people used type-writers (like computer without the internet). This history is boring, so I will skip it for now.
With my e-blog I have always sought to provide a grammatical and type-setting 'safe-haven' for the internet. As such, I will attempt to single space between sentences from here on out. It will be difficult, and basically pointless. Nonetheless, it shall henceforth be my aim. Wish me luck, internet.
Questions for Discussion:
- How do you feel about this new single-space rule?
- Is this just more snooty esoteric elitism from the jerks who write the Chicago Manual of Style?
- Do you feel like a guy who has maybe had a mustache for his whole life but finally shaved it and now doesn't recognize his own face in the mirror?
- Will you be following the single space rule, or sticking with double space?
6 comments:
Frankly, I'm appalled at this ruling and change. I always consciously add the double tap after each period and normally have to edit this item for other while reviewing docs.
I feel shocked and cheated. I'll be sticking with the double space after punctuation for now - it just makes it easier to see the beginning of sentences.
When I was taking an Editing class (by far my favorite class in college), we learned about how the double space is on its way out. In fact, if you type a post for your blog (that's e-blog to you, Joel) and then go back to edit it, you'll find that all your double-spaces are gone. The computer has replaced them with single spaces.
I feel like this single space rule comes from the people at the Chicago Manual of Style, who are trying to keep things changing all the time so that we'll remember that they're in charge of the English language.
I'll stick with the double space for the rest of my life. I can't stop -- it's such a built-in habit of the way I type. I don't want to stop, either. Single spaces are for losers.
The first person I saw use the new fad of the single space was my technology-illiterate attorney. She would give me documents to proof and I was so irritated by all of her poorly written sentences and grammar that I'd very condescendingly add a double space to her sentences since that was, in my mind, the correct way. Then I found out she was right but was too proud to change my ways and continued using the double until here recently. I type in "justify" and some of the lines were too gappy with the double space. I have now succumbed to the fad.
Chicago!? Since when does living in Chicago give anyone the right to call the literary shots? As soon as I read this post, I turned to my friends at the American Psychological Association for guidance. Not only do they do a heck of a lot of writing, but they can figure out what makes those Chicago folks tick. You know what THEY had to say about it?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. THE DOUBLE SPACE IS NOT A THING OF THE PAST. I think if anything, we should take steps in the OTHER direction, like triple spaces after the period. Or even quadruple. You know. Just to make sure that everyone knows where one sentence finishes and another begins. And besides. I can finish my 10-page research papers faster that way. It's a win-win-win.
NOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Just to clarify: I posted my last comment with an increasing number of spaces after each sentence. But the DARNED INTERNET edited me! Does anyone know how to get even with a vague concept?
Wow! This is news to me. I was actually wondering about this the other day though. I was typing on my iPod Touch and realized that in order to do a period you can double tap the space button, but when you do so, it only adds on space after the period. I thought this was strange and wondered how it effected the look of my grammar skills in the emails that I wrote. It's going to be tough for me to get used to this.
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