Just as I was starting to write this post, I came across an article providing the definitive answer to whether or not I should use one or two spaces after a period – or full stop as they call it here in Australia. The article has changed: go here now.
Writer Farhad Manjoo (then at Slate before moving on to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times) provides the aggressively definitive answer to whether or not you put one or two spaces between sentences.
I’ll cut his lofty writing short for you: one space only, ever.
His rationale is compelling and fascinating, because it’s not just a story of aesthetics and readability, but of the convergence between old technology (typewriters) and new technology (proportional typesetting.)
And yet ...
Despite all his (mostly good) arguments from typography experts, there’s one point where his argument trips itself up. Is it more readable to have two spaces instead of one? As he admits, there are no studies to prove single or double spaces are better.
When I was younger, I always used one space. It’s what Kay Amert, my typography teacher at University of Iowa, taught us.
As I get older, I am constantly searching for a pair of reading glasses to help. In other words, I prefer two spaces because it’s easier to read.
So which should you use?
Like everything else on the planet, do what’s preferable to you.
If you prefer one space after a period, by all means, make yourself happy.
Two spaces? That’s your choice.
But, like all communication, you should also remember to think about WHO you are writing for. If you know the other party will go full-on BONKERS if you use two spaces, why make a situation worse to be “right”?
Phew, I’m glad that important issue is settled. Or not.
Now on to more important things, such as the Oxford comma.
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