shahn@hstbme.mit.edu (Samuel Hahn) (02/05/90)
I am about to begin a newsletter project and I am wondering what the "right" way to format sentences is. Back in the old typewriter days, TWO spaces after a period was the standard. Now, however, it seems like people are using only ONE space. Which is correct? Does it depend on the situation, i.e. one space in news- letters, articles, etc. and two spaces in correspondence, theses, etc. I know this may seem trivial, but in the interest of "professionalism", I would like to know... Thanks... Sam Hahn shahn@hstbme.mit.edu
chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (02/05/90)
shahn@hstbme.mit.edu (Samuel Hahn) writes: >Back in the old typewriter days, TWO spaces after a period was the standard. >Now, however, it seems like people are using only ONE space. >Which is correct? The quick and dirty rule of thumb would be to use two spaces with a monospace font and one spave with a proportional (typeset) font (assuming a laser printer or better -- for dot-matrix, you probably want to use two spaces all the time). -- Chuq Von Rospach <+> chuq@apple.com <+> [This is myself speaking] Rumour has it that Larry Wall, author of RN, is a finalist in the race for the Nobel Peace Prize for his invention of the kill file.
fozzard@boulder.Colorado.EDU (Richard Fozzard) (02/06/90)
In article <38336@apple.Apple.COM> chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: >The quick and dirty rule of thumb would be to use two spaces with a >monospace font and one spave with a proportional (typeset) font (assuming a >laser printer or better -- for dot-matrix, you probably want to use two >spaces all the time). Why only one space with a proportional font? In the fonts I use, a space is among the very narrowest characters, so that only one space gives almost no separation between sentences, while monospaced fonts have bigger space characters, giving more separation. rich ======================================================================== Richard Fozzard "Serendipity empowers" University of Colorado/CIRES/NOAA/ERL/FSL fozzard@boulder.colorado.edu (303)497-6011 or 444-3168
jjw7384@ultb.isc.rit.edu (Jeff Wasilko) (02/07/90)
In article <1990Feb4.224159.26586@athena.mit.edu> shahn@hstbme.mit.edu (Samuel Hahn) writes: > >I am about to begin a newsletter project and I am wondering what the "right" >way to format sentences is. > >Back in the old typewriter days, TWO spaces after a period was the standard. >Now, however, it seems like people are using only ONE space. > The idea (actually the necessity) of using one space between sentences originated from the days of hot metal typesetting, where spaces were actually metal wedges called spacebands. These metal wedges would be siultaneously compressed to spread the type out and justify the line. If two spacebands were placed side-by-side, the linotype would jam. The idea of only one space(band) between sentences has been carried over to modern typesetters, all of which will not allow two spacebands to be placed next to each other. While the mac will allow two spaces side by side, they should not be used. When justifying lines, the space character is actually assigned a different width value on each line in order to justify the line. As an aside, there was an init posted to c.b.m. that would not allow two spaces to be typed side by side. Jeff Disclaimer: I've been setting type on REAL typesetters since I was 14. -- | RIT VAX/VMS Systems: | Jeff Wasilko | RIT Ultrix Systems: | |BITNET: jjw7384@ritvax+----------------------+INET:jjw7384@ultb.isc.rit.edu| |UUCP: {psuvax1, mcvax}!ritvax.bitnet!JJW7384 +___UUCP:jjw7384@ultb.UUCP____+ |INTERNET: jjw7384@isc.rit.edu |'claimer: No one cares. |
gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu (02/10/90)
> As an aside, there was an init posted to c.b.m. that would not allow > two spaces to be typed side by side. I'd hate to play tetris with this init.