Just one space

Back in the day of typewriters, it was common practice to insert two spaces after ending punctuation.

The Bottom Line

It is only necessary to insert one space after ending punctuation. Start relearning your habit of inserting two spaces. I promise it can be done.

The Full Story

I’m tempted to pretend that there is no debate about this and that everyone agrees with me about the one-space thing (which they should), but that’s not the case. Wikipedia summarizes the points of the two sides nicely: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_spacing. The key points to take away are that the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press agree that only one space is necessary.

Filed under: Spacing