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[jwhsu]

(02-14-2018 08:53 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  The question has been answered already, but just out of curiosity: Where on this planet is it taught that one puts two spaces after a period? I have never heard of that before nor have I ever knowingly seen it (guess I missed the old thread).

The practice came from mechanical and electric typewriters. All letters and punctuation occupied the same width on the page. Two spaces were used after periods to better highlight the end of sentences (try reading a manuscript set in courier. You need the double space to improve the readability of the document). This practice continued when word processors with proportional fonts became available and you didn't need to accentuate the end of the sentence to improve readability. I'm not sure how prevalent the practice is now as I have not seen a typewriter in decades and I'm not sure if they are teaching "use 2 spaces after a period" in typing classes, however, I agree it is wasteful, and, personally, it drives me crazy when I see a document using proportional fonts with double spaces at the ends of sentences.

Jack