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Subject:Re: Spacing Between Sentences From:"Dennis Hays/The Burden Lake Group, Ltd." <dlhays -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 13 Jul 1996 13:16:38 -0400
At 07:23 PM 7/13/96 PDT, Moshe Koenig wrote:
>-------------------------------------
>I've read all the discussion over the practice of double-spacing after
>a period. I was taught to do that when I studied typing in high school
>and I continued to do so until 1994, when someone pointed out to me
>that Microsoft did not adhere to that practice. (Again, Microsoft
>sets the standard for the world.) Although Ventura always gave me a
>no-break space symbol for the double-space and Frame always balked,
>it doesn't change the fact that I felt that it made the text easier
>to read. Years ago, it was the standard, even for text that used the
>now-shunned fully justified margins (which Microsoft also uses).
According to Robert Bringhurst in his book "The Elements of Typographic
Style" (Hartley & Marks 1992):
(begin quote) 2.1.4 Use a single word space between sentences.
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 spacebar twice after every period.
Your typing as well as your typesetting will benefit from unlearning this
quaint Victorian habit. As a general rule, no more than a single space is
required after a period, a colon or any other marks of punctuation. Larger
spaces (e.g., en spaces) _replace_ punctuation.
The rule is usually altered, however, when setting classical Latin and
Greek, romanized Sanskrit, phonetics, or other kinds of text in which
sentences begin with lowercase letters. In the absence of a capital, a full
space (M/2) between sentences will generally be welcome. (end quote)
I think the operative sentence here is "Larger spaces (e.g., en spaces)
_replace_ punctuation."
Dennis Hays\The Burden Lake Group, Ltd.
Voice: 518/477-6388 Fax: 518/477-5006
eMail: dlhays -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com
"God doesn't want you to be certain.
That's why He gave you a brain."
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