[General] Double space after fullstop... ???

[SunMoon]

I see that people in UK sometimes use to put a double space after a full stop. Someone else told me that is the English rule though I am not seeing that very often.


What is the true?

[Anglika]

Single space is perfectly adequate. Ignore any suggestion that it isn't

[jlinger]

It used to be, with old typewriters that were not proportionate type, that every letter and mark took exactly the same amout of space. A period (or "full stop" as the British call it) was in the middle of that space, and that space was exactly the same width as if you had typed an "M" or "W" in it. As a result, it took two hits on the space bar to draw a clear distinction between sentences.

Then along came computers and proportionate space. A period is not hugged up close to the last letter in the sentence. Hitting the space bar gives you adequate space after the period to distinguish the start of the next sentence.

Anyone who uses two spaces after a period today learned to type on a typewriter. Be gentle with them. They are old.

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by jlinger

Anyone who uses two spaces after a period today learned to type on a typewriter.

Really? Not here we weren't.

[SunMoon]

I had supposed that because I saw someone to do that on computer keyboard by using the middle and ring fingers as it was very strong to do that on old type writers. In fact I never seen anyone using the space bar with two fingers.

[poorboy_9]

"OLD"!!- I take exception!
Some times in the literary world, the single space is used to conserve space. The use of even three or four "extra" spaces in the body of a text could mean as many as eight pages in a bound volume (four leaves).
On a "rethink", is 54 "old"?

[jlinger]

I was just kidding you about the "old." I am older than that, by a long shot! And I also learned to type on a typewriter! With two spaces, by the way!

[Ouisch]

I'm sure jlinger is a few years younger than me - my first typewriter had tiny pebbles as keys and we used dried Woolly Mammoth skin as paper - but I was also taught to always space twice after a period (full stop). In fact, in the US, most professional style guides of the 1970s/80s specified the same two-space practice. However, with the advent of word processors and proportional fonts, one space after the full stop has become the norm.

[SunMoon]

I also learned to type onto type writer (Olivetti) when I was a child, it was my favourite game.

Anyway, now that I am thinking, I never seen anyone to use double space in Italy! Perhaps it was not used in Italy or in Italian language.