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how many?

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69 (59.5%)
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as many as i want
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Author Topic: How many spaces after a period? aka gadough, help me impress my english teacher  (Read 12656 times)

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Offline KevShmev

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I actually just like to use a lot of ellipses... it really gives that sense of "pause".... you know..? Much better than a single period...those just don't cut it for me...

god bles....

Ellipses are nice to use sometimes, often times in place of a semicolon (which it seems like no one but me uses anymore) or a colon. 

Offline yorost

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Nah, I use semicolons and know others do, too.  The problem is that they're rare even when used properly.

Offline Jamesman42

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This has been a good thread, no, one of the better threads on DTF in the last year.

Offline TioJorge

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Me! I'm pretty sure I use them a bit too much, actually. Although most of the time I'd like to think I use them correctly given that my best classes throughout my entire life has been anything related to English class and writing.

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Offline antigoon

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I actually just like to use a lot of ellipses... it really gives that sense of "pause".... you know..? Much better than a single period...those just don't cut it for me...

god bles....

Ellipses are nice to use sometimes, often times in place of a semicolon (which it seems like no one but me uses anymore) or a colon. 
The semicolon is not dead! I (ab)use them regularly in an academic setting.

Offline lordxizor

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Two Spaces After a Period: Why You Should Never, Ever Do it.

https://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html

Quote
Every modern typographer agrees on the one-space rule. It's one of the canonical rules of the profession, in the same way that waiters know that the salad fork goes to the left of the dinner fork and fashion designers know to put men's shirt buttons on the right and women's on the left. Every major style guide—including the Modern Language Association Style Manual and the Chicago Manual of Style—prescribes a single space after a period. (The Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, used widely in the social sciences, allows for two spaces in draft manuscripts but recommends one space in published work.) Most ordinary people would know the one-space rule, too, if it weren't for a quirk of history. In the middle of the last century, a now-outmoded technology—the manual typewriter—invaded the American workplace. To accommodate that machine's shortcomings, everyone began to type wrong. And even though we no longer use typewriters, we all still type like we do. (Also see the persistence of the dreaded Caps Lock key.)

Offline black_biff_stadler

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Two Spaces After a Period: Why You Should Never, Ever Do it.

https://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html

Quote
Every modern typographer agrees on the one-space rule. It's one of the canonical rules of the profession, in the same way that waiters know that the salad fork goes to the left of the dinner fork and fashion designers know to put men's shirt buttons on the right and women's on the left. Every major style guide—including the Modern Language Association Style Manual and the Chicago Manual of Style—prescribes a single space after a period. (The Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, used widely in the social sciences, allows for two spaces in draft manuscripts but recommends one space in published work.) Most ordinary people would know the one-space rule, too, if it weren't for a quirk of history. In the middle of the last century, a now-outmoded technology—the manual typewriter—invaded the American workplace. To accommodate that machine's shortcomings, everyone began to type wrong. And even though we no longer use typewriters, we all still type like we do. (Also see the persistence of the dreaded Caps Lock key.)

Whomever wrote that seems to be more interested in perpetuating arbitrary pretenses than pursuing sensible utilization of things in general. It doesn't matter at all for even one second what side of your shirt the buttons are on as long as you like the shirt. If you're worried about accidentally wearing a shirt that was designed for the opposite gender then what's it really matter anyway if the shirt was seemingly unisex enough to not look emphatically out of character for one's typical style in the first place? Additionally, to be concerned with the placement of two utensils that are less than an inch from each other borders on OCD. After reading that drivel I now have zero concern about how many spaces someone chooses to use after a period.

Also, I direct all of this annoyance at the writer and not you lordxizor :)
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Every modern typographer can eat me.  I learned two spaces on a computer word processing program, not a typewriter.  It feels right, it looks good, to me.  Also:

Quote
fashion designers know to put men's shirt buttons on the right and women's on the left

This is why I make sure to sit to the left of the girl with the button-up shirt.

Offline lordxizor

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Two Spaces After a Period: Why You Should Never, Ever Do it.

https://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html

Quote
Every modern typographer agrees on the one-space rule. It's one of the canonical rules of the profession, in the same way that waiters know that the salad fork goes to the left of the dinner fork and fashion designers know to put men's shirt buttons on the right and women's on the left. Every major style guide—including the Modern Language Association Style Manual and the Chicago Manual of Style—prescribes a single space after a period. (The Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, used widely in the social sciences, allows for two spaces in draft manuscripts but recommends one space in published work.) Most ordinary people would know the one-space rule, too, if it weren't for a quirk of history. In the middle of the last century, a now-outmoded technology—the manual typewriter—invaded the American workplace. To accommodate that machine's shortcomings, everyone began to type wrong. And even though we no longer use typewriters, we all still type like we do. (Also see the persistence of the dreaded Caps Lock key.)

Whomever wrote that seems to be more interested in perpetuating arbitrary pretenses than pursuing sensible utilization of things in general. It doesn't matter at all for even one second what side of your shirt the buttons are on as long as you like the shirt. If you're worried about accidentally wearing a shirt that was designed for the opposite gender then what's it really matter anyway if the shirt was seemingly unisex enough to not look emphatically out of character for one's typical style in the first place? Additionally, to be concerned with the placement of two utensils that are less than an inch from each other borders on OCD. After reading that drivel I now have zero concern about how many spaces someone chooses to use after a period.

Also, I direct all of this annoyance at the writer and not you lordxizor :)
In his defense, he does go on to say:

Quote
Is this arbitrary? Sure it is.

I agree that he goes a bit over the top and that in the end it doesn't really matter, but one space does look a lot better.

Offline black_biff_stadler

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Goddamnit! I guess we'll have to agree to agree :P
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Offline yorost

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Two Spaces After a Period: Why You Should Never, Ever Do it.

https://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html
Whomever wrote that seems to be more interested in perpetuating arbitrary pretenses than pursuing sensible utilization of things in general.
It is Slate, after all.

Offline Orbert

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I agree that he goes a bit over the top and that in the end it doesn't really matter, but one space does look a lot better.

As with most things, whatever you're used to is what will look better to you.

Also the writer of the article sucks.  The piece is titled (in part) "Why You Should Never, Ever Do it" but he does not actually explain why you should never, ever do it, as though it were some kind of horrible faux pas.  He points out that "modern" style guides use the one-space rule but does not mention that for a long time, two spaces was in fact the rule.  He says that "Most ordinary people would know the one-space rule" and completely ignores the fact that two generations of people, most still living, grew up with a different rule.  The two-space rule wasn't just some brief quirk in history, as he claims.  It's how people typed ever since people started typing.  Because, you know, typewriters didn't exist before then.

People tend to think that how things are now is how they've always been, but that's simply not true most of the time.  Intelligent people understand that.

I have no idea who/what Slate is, but I'm not impressed.

Offline slycordinator

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Now word processing programs automatically make a space after a period longer.
LibreOffice doesn't. I measured it.:P

Offline yorost

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I have no idea who/what Slate is, but I'm not impressed.
I used to think Slate was cool, they were an early web-based magazine.  They try to be edgy by being combative and often taking atypical stances, but after awhile it wears thin and you realize they're just your typical loud mouthed internet denizens with a bigger profile.

Offline black_biff_stadler

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Offline Jamesman42

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I actually just like to use a lot of ellipses... it really gives that sense of "pause".... you know..? Much better than a single period...those just don't cut it for me...

god bles....

Ellipses are nice to use sometimes, often times in place of a semicolon (which it seems like no one but me uses anymore) or a colon. 
The semicolon is not dead! I (ab)use them regularly in an academic setting.

Same here.

Offline BlobVanDam

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Thanks to this thread, I'm now painfully aware of the fact some people are actually using two spaces after a period. And I'm going to silently resent you all for it.

Or just forget all about it in a week. Whatever.
Only King could mis-spell a LETTER.
Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline FlyingBIZKIT

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My AP Language teacher says he always uses 2 spaces. I use 1.

Offline MasterShakezula

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Thanks to this thread, I now know that 1 space is used at all and is actually encouraged.  Fuck that. 

Offline BlobVanDam

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Thanks to this thread, I now know that 1 space is used at all and is actually encouraged.  Fuck that. 

I'm going to drown you in that gaping hole between your sentences.
Only King could mis-spell a LETTER.
Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline black_biff_stadler

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My AP Language teacher says he always uses 2 spaces. I use 1.

He also rapes bison in Cedar Rapids.
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Offline FlyingBIZKIT

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Offline antigoon

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You won't get into college using two spaces.

Offline Orbert

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Thanks to this thread, I now know that 1 space is used at all and is actually encouraged.  Fuck that. 

Yeah seriously.  The only time I've ever noticed one space after a sentence is on the net, and I just figured that a lot of forum software does it automatically to save space and bytes.  In fact, I know a lot of software does it, but I never realized until this thread that the rules have actually changed.

Offline BlobVanDam

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I never realized until this thread that anyone used two spaces, or that at any point it was ever a rule.
Only King could mis-spell a LETTER.
Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline Gadough

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I actually just like to use a lot of ellipses... it really gives that sense of "pause".... you know..? Much better than a single period...those just don't cut it for me...

god bles....

lol...
Gadough isn't Hitler. He's much, much worse.

Offline lonestar

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Thanks to this thread, I'm now painfully aware of the fact some people are actually using two spaces after a period. And I'm going to silently resent you all for it.

Or just forget all about it in a week. Whatever.

I don't think you will forget about it.   Your resentments are going to build and build inside of you.   Videos will lay unfinished.   DS9 episodes will bring you no joy.  Day in and day out you will scour the forums, silently hating those of us who just refuse to do one space.

Offline BlobVanDam

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OH GOSH DARNIT LONESTAR, now you're just being greedy. :lol

I think bosk should start charging people for redundantly wasting precious server bytes.


Only King could mis-spell a LETTER.
Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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He's out of control.   He cannot be reasoned with.   Somebody has to stop him.   

Offline lonestar

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He's out of control.   He cannot be reasoned with.   Somebody has to stop him.

I'm sorry.   I don't know what came over me.   Can you forgive me.

Offline BlobVanDam

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I won't forgive any of you.    Not the cook.     Not the rockstar.      Not any of you.       Except for the people who abide by the one space rule.         
Only King could mis-spell a LETTER.
Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline VioletS16

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I've never heard of two spaces ever. One space ftw.
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Offline Elsydeon

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I use two spaces. And one the biggest reasons being to add more space to my paper to make it seem longer

Offline theseoafs

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I use two spaces.  <- here they are over here

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I never realized until this thread that anyone used two spaces, or that at any point it was ever a rule.
This right here.          You two space people are weird.