Two spaces after a full stop

[MyDuvetDay]

Do you do this?

Or do you correct this in other people’s work by deleting all their extra spaces?

Same here, when I did my RSA exams in the late 90s, that's what you were taught to do and I still do it. And I don't care who is bothered!

Also, I am really confused about what people are talking about on this thread.

Double spacing, and putting two spaces after a full stop - they are not the same thing?

I was taught to put two spaces after a full stop when typing. I recognise that people who are not classically trained 😂 don't do it now, but I think it looks better to be honest.

Just checking the book I'm reading which was printed in 2007 and that has two spaces after full stops.

More to the point, what was the reason for using double spacing?

As a graphic designer - no, no, no! Along with fully justified text (which is awful for accessibility and looks horrid as you get hyphenated words) Large blocks of text should always be left aligned with one space!

Why? I dislike unjustified text. It’s needlessly untidy

It's harder to read than left-justified.

It’s so not!

Yes, it is.

I still can't get the difference between justified and unjustified or whatever text.
I've looked at my current Kindle book but have no idea which it is.

I learnt to touch type in the 1980s, with the double space, I can't lose the habit. Anyone bothered is welcome to edit them out. In fact it would be a useful autocorrect option then I wouldn't have to think about it.

I prefer left justified text rather than the weird varying spacing but that is worse in narrow columns of text.

i double space - I wasn't taught on a typewriter but did learn to write/touch type in a law firm, (a very traditional one at that) so maybe that's why. Love a bit of Times New Roman too.

It’s incorrect. When I was a journalist I had to delete double spaces from a lot of people’s copy, because they were older and learned to type on typewriters.

Aha! Thank you for this explanation. I was wondering if something was wrong with my eyesight or perception, because I couldn’t see any difference!

Because modern word-processing packages do it automatically - by manually double-spacing, you’re doing the equivalent of three spaces after a full stop, which looks really weird!

I stopped doing it after it became 'deprecated'. I still prefer the look of the double space, though. My brain 'takes a breath' between sentences when reading the text, and it feels nicer somehow.

I don't think this is it? You couldn't fit two ems between sentences, it's more like one or one and a half, depending on font kerning.

Objectively, it is, especially for people with dyslexia, other visual impairments and processing difficulties.

It’s still appropriate (but not essential) for text written in columns for demarcation, especially in print. But in general, if you’re aiming for pretty, justify. If you’re aiming for your piece to be read and understood, left align.

One of my bosses still uses commas after Dear etc and he’s only in his early 30s. Just checked and he does double space after a full stop too.
I must admit I am quite surprised people feel so passionately about it to be honest.

I had forgotten this was a thing. Why was a double space the thing to do anyway? I was told to do it when I learned to type (using a typewriter) but I can't remember why you needed to. I haven't done it for probably 25 years now.

I think the reason I have never thought of double spacing as being a thing, apart from never having had typing lessons, was that I have worked on screens since the mid 90s, and therefore double spacing has never been a thing. The software always formatted back to single spacing (various catalogue management systems and databases)

I assume lawyers do it for the same reason that double spacing is often used when setting out documents for those who are dyslexic. It makes it easier to read and assimilate large blocks of text quickly. As someone who skim reads a lot I quite like the double space for the same reason :)

I think it tells you that you can take a breath. ( Could be wrong of course).

It's purely because of mechanical limitations of typewriters (monospace fonts) that made it hard to distinguish between sentences with only one space. It was never because of readability and is fully redundant when not using a typewriter.

Edit: Actually that was a bit jumbled. It was to improve readability for typewritten text but has no impact on readability now.

I hope the two-spacers aren't also hitting carriage return just to make sure the line of text doesn't fall off the edge of the page.
[Not serious]