	luckdragonfujur 2004-12-18 02:57 am UTC (link)
	What a petty thing to start a wank o.O I think it varies from country to country, then. I was taught one space was enough. (Reply to this)

	cesare 2004-12-18 03:07 am UTC (link)
	Unless you're using fancy-schmancy characters to represent spaces or something, HTML automatically reduces two spaces in a row to just one. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

kannaophelia, 2004-12-18 03:24 am UTC

	dawnswalker 2004-12-18 03:17 am UTC (link)
	It's three. THREE! DO YOU HEAR ME?! (Reply to this)

	kannaophelia 2004-12-18 03:26 am UTC (link)
	Every time I see a fanfic story I really like that has two spaces between sentences and I decide I want to save it on my computer, I have to copy and paste it into a WP program and get rid of all those double spaces. I think this person just won something. Not the argument, but something else. Not sure what. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 04:05 am UTC

(no subject) -

phosfate, 2004-12-18 05:25 am UTC

(no subject) -

ellensmithee, 2004-12-18 10:41 am UTC

(no subject) -

indis_earfalas, 2004-12-18 04:10 pm UTC

(no subject) -

cassiovega, 2004-12-19 06:01 pm UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 09:09 pm UTC

	melllvar 2004-12-18 03:36 am UTC (link)
	Melllvar uses two spaces for essays and one for writing fan scripts, but then, Melllvar is an energy being and can make those sort of distinctions without getting all hepped up about it. Now, Melllvar must go... He has a convention to attend! (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

marlo, 2004-12-18 05:08 am UTC

(no subject) -

melllvar, 2004-12-18 05:49 am UTC

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marlo, 2004-12-18 06:11 am UTC

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melllvar, 2004-12-18 07:07 am UTC

oops. -

marlo, 2004-12-18 06:14 am UTC

(no subject) -

onetrickpony, 2004-12-19 02:26 pm UTC

captainecchi
2004-12-18 03:47 am UTC (link)

All I can comment on is APA style, in which two spaces after a period are currently demoded in favor of one, for the reason mentioned above: proportional spaced fonts on computers make it unnecessary and clunky-looking.

Of course, my boss, most of whose research dates from ye olde days of APA, is always putting two spaces after a period, which I have to edit, for it clashes terribly with what I write and with what the co-investigator writes in a manuscript.

But we're talking about fanfiction here, so I'm not sure it applies, unless APA now stands for American Phan-Wankers Association. Still, two spaces after a period seems a bit silly for fanfiction--there are so many other ways to waste your time in writing fic.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

boadicea, 2004-12-18 07:58 am UTC

(no subject) -

zing_och, 2004-12-18 10:41 am UTC

RL mixing with interweb=brain splodeys -

goblin, 2004-12-18 10:58 pm UTC

Re: RL mixing with interweb=brain splodeys -

captainecchi, 2004-12-19 08:25 am UTC

memoriamvictus
2004-12-18 04:09 am UTC (link)

Heh. I actually just got smacked down for this same debate in a different community.

It's a recent generation gap thing, I believe; I was always taught two, but the MLA calls for one. Two is a hangover from the typewriter days, but now that we have computers, having a typist take typesetting into account is omg so wrong.

I'm not sure HTML even takes spacing into account. I never realized this prior to said debate, but vBulletin at the very least will automatically convert full stops into one space, no matter how many spaces you actually input.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

memoriamvictus, 2004-12-18 04:10 am UTC

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ladybirdsleeps, 2004-12-18 04:39 am UTC

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littlemisspiss, 2004-12-18 07:33 am UTC

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littlemisspiss, 2004-12-18 07:34 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 04:57 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 06:32 am UTC

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memoriamvictus, 2004-12-18 10:27 am UTC

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memoriamvictus, 2004-12-18 10:24 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-19 05:32 am UTC

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cie_anthy, 2004-12-18 09:18 am UTC

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mistressrenet, 2004-12-18 10:07 pm UTC

	ladybirdsleeps 2004-12-18 04:37 am UTC (link)
	I must have missed the memo that said all discussion on teh internet is wank. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

sarajayechan, 2004-12-18 04:50 am UTC

(no subject) -

virago, 2004-12-18 05:03 am UTC

(no subject) -

marlo, 2004-12-18 05:10 am UTC

	(Anonymous) 2004-12-18 04:38 am UTC (link)
	>>I was always taught one space, and that two was outdated since computers have taken over the world...<< I use two but I am horribly out of date most of the time. And yes that means fighting against computers a lot of the time. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-20 06:49 pm UTC

	alisalias 2004-12-18 04:39 am UTC (link)
	Hasn't rikoshi been wanked before? I know I've seen that name and icon somewhere. Sentences are indicated by double spaces; paragraphs are indicated by indents or double-returns. It's not a matter of "pretty." It just is. Someone needs to call the APA. Their manual is wrong and they've inflicted the wrongness upon my psych professors! The horror! (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

crickets, 2004-12-18 05:29 am UTC

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alisalias, 2004-12-18 06:36 am UTC

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crickets, 2004-12-18 06:57 am UTC

	twocorpses 2004-12-18 04:44 am UTC (link)
	I was confused about this "alright" business. I have always spelled it alright and have never been corrected by teachers or otherwise. Since my internet is being a bitca and I don't know where my dictionary is, all I can find out is that it's a non-standard variant of all right. Blah. I agree with someone above. This is a really stupid thing to get all uptight about. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

twocorpses, 2004-12-18 04:51 am UTC

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nevadafighter, 2004-12-18 05:22 am UTC

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tigerlily, 2004-12-18 05:37 pm UTC

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tigerlily, 2004-12-18 06:13 pm UTC

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nevadafighter, 2004-12-18 10:06 pm UTC

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tigerlily, 2004-12-19 12:27 am UTC

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nevadafighter, 2004-12-19 02:15 am UTC

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crickets, 2004-12-18 05:43 am UTC

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twocorpses, 2004-12-18 05:56 pm UTC

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platedlizard, 2004-12-18 09:04 am UTC

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tigerlily, 2004-12-18 05:24 pm UTC

English is a living language - (Anonymous), 2004-12-20 10:50 pm UTC

(no subject) -

ladyofviolets, 2004-12-20 12:14 am UTC

(no subject) -

twocorpses, 2004-12-20 02:31 am UTC

	sarajayechan 2004-12-18 04:48 am UTC (link)
	Pretty tiny so far. (Reply to this)

	ataralas 2004-12-18 04:49 am UTC (link)
	Wow, and this is why I <3 LaTeX. It worries about that for me. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

khym_chanur, 2004-12-18 01:10 pm UTC

ladysorka
2004-12-18 05:12 am UTC (link)

I use two, if only because it's ingrained habit. Automatically hit the space bar twice. I don't exactly think about it.

Of course, I once had an insane English teacher, who insited that everything had to be handwritten, in cursive. And inbetween each sentence, we had to put two perfectly formed zeros so we'd have enough space between our sentences.

You also had to put four zeros at the beginning of a paragraph, and make your commas and quotation marks exactly the way he wanted you to, or he gave your paper an 'F'.

Mr. Kult was a little insane.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

phosfate, 2004-12-18 05:27 am UTC

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squeakytoy, 2004-12-18 06:20 am UTC

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alisalias, 2004-12-18 06:41 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 08:10 am UTC

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ladysorka, 2004-12-18 08:18 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 08:30 am UTC

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ladysorka, 2004-12-18 08:33 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 08:39 am UTC

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ladysorka, 2004-12-18 08:47 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 09:04 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-23 06:19 pm UTC

(no subject) -

cie_anthy, 2004-12-18 09:41 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 10:07 am UTC

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sandiera, 2004-12-18 10:21 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 10:29 am UTC

Ha! -

sandiera, 2004-12-18 10:35 am UTC

Re: Ha! - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 05:57 pm UTC

Re: Ha! -

deadlettero, 2004-12-19 01:58 am UTC

(no subject) -

cie_anthy, 2004-12-18 08:30 pm UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 08:46 pm UTC

(no subject) -

winterfalls, 2004-12-18 10:07 pm UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-21 06:31 pm UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-21 06:59 pm UTC

(no subject) -

jaina, 2004-12-18 10:05 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 10:14 am UTC

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jaina, 2004-12-18 10:22 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 10:35 am UTC

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jaina, 2004-12-18 10:37 am UTC

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goblin, 2004-12-18 11:04 pm UTC

My my - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 11:20 am UTC

Re: My my -

boadicea, 2004-12-18 11:45 am UTC

Re: My my -

sandiera, 2004-12-18 12:08 pm UTC

Re: My my -

boadicea, 2004-12-18 12:19 pm UTC

Oh, gee whiz! -

ladybirdsleeps, 2004-12-18 07:11 pm UTC

(no subject) -

funwithrage, 2004-12-20 03:25 am UTC

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winterfalls, 2004-12-18 10:22 am UTC

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boadicea, 2004-12-18 10:57 am UTC

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zannechaos, 2004-12-18 02:32 pm UTC

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tigerlily, 2004-12-18 05:49 pm UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-21 06:48 pm UTC

(no subject) -

renata_hpjc, 2004-12-18 03:59 pm UTC

(Anonymous)
2004-12-18 06:30 am UTC (link)

Hm, I guess it just depends on who's asking for the writing.

Take the professors in my Graphic Design courses. They require one space, proper placing and usage of em dashes, en dashes, hyphens, curly quotes, and the curly apostrophe. And not the ones Word does for you. In every single paper. Every single design mockup. Oh yeah. Me and my Alt key are great friends now.

/whine

~~never major in graphic design, neverrrrr~~

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

squib, 2004-12-18 09:42 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 10:39 pm UTC

(Anonymous)
2004-12-18 06:49 am UTC (link)

Argh. Pet peeve. Everyone in that link seems to think they have the ultimate knowledge about one space or two, and yet everyone in there is horribly abusing their dashes. (Hey, if we’re going to get nitpicky, we might as well go all the way.) It’s like a group of people talking about someone’s ugly shoes when they’re all wearing plaid neon green pants. ~~An em dash won’t kill you, people.~~

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

mistressrenet, 2004-12-18 10:09 pm UTC

circumstance
2004-12-18 06:52 am UTC (link)

As much of a grammar whore as I am, I find this issue so completely ridiculous. "One space, because Writing Association A said so!" "No, you fool, two spaces, because Writing Association B said so!"

Potayto, potahto, people.

And seriously, who died and made the MLA Supreme Dictator Of The English Language?

Also, I'm a double-spacer. Eat it, you single-spacing asspirates!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

pokecheck, 2004-12-18 06:58 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 08:17 am UTC

(no subject) -

tigerlily, 2004-12-18 05:54 pm UTC

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pokecheck, 2004-12-19 02:59 am UTC

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combledore, 2004-12-19 08:39 am UTC

fandom_bitch
2004-12-18 07:38 am UTC (link)

In the ancient days, before computers were standard in households and I had to take typing lessons in grade 8 on a manual typewriter and in grade 9 on an electric typewriter, we always used two spaces after a period, or any other punctuation that ended a sentence (and colons). After everything else, it was one space.

Fast forward 20 years...I've now been told by so called "experts", using various reasons that still don't make much sense to me, it's now considered appropriate to only use one space after all punctuation.

In general though, any profs and lawyers, etc. I've worked with don't give a rat's ass how many spaces I put after punctuation that ends a sentence as long as I'm consistent. :P

And consistent to me is two spaces after anything ending a sentence.

But I know many who use one.

Those who use none, I don't read their stuff.

(Reply to this)

shinigami_co
2004-12-18 07:44 am UTC (link)

I think MLA says two. I'm too lazy to go check. Word-processing programs automatically make it one, though. Honestly, I don't care if there's two spaces after a period. Two after a comma might be a little annoying, I think. But not so much I'd get the exclamation points of righteous indignation fired up.

And if you use that fine of a tooth for the comb you read a story with, yeesh. Go outside for a while.

Oh, I feel a stylish ellipsis coming on..

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 08:20 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 06:01 pm UTC

(no subject) -

tigerlily, 2004-12-18 06:12 pm UTC

	fuzzypink 2004-12-18 08:03 am UTC (link)
	shurgs I use two. I don't know if I was taught that or not, but then, the only typing course I ever took was in high school and we were still using typewriters then. (Reply to this)

	acari 2004-12-18 08:12 am UTC (link)
	I have never even heard of a rule that says "use two spaces after a period". Must be a wacky English thing. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-18 08:21 am UTC

(no subject) -

acari, 2004-12-18 06:11 pm UTC

(no subject) -

krazycat, 2004-12-19 12:12 am UTC

	sockonhand 2004-12-18 08:33 am UTC (link)
	Where's the wank? I just see people politely wondering which is the appropriate way to go in this day and age? (Reply to this)

(Anonymous)
2004-12-18 08:51 am UTC (link)

I've heard of the two space rule, but only from professors who despise technology. I believe it's safe to say that they're outdated. Instructors I've had while I was growing up never insisted on two spaces and one of my English teachers told me that "two spaces isn't necessary. However, it used to be years before" when one of my classmates had ask her during college essay application time.

I've come to think that spacing after sentences is a personal preference unless the guidelines for what you're writing for says otherwise.

-mcohibuni

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-12-21 06:36 pm UTC

	jaina 2004-12-18 10:07 am UTC (link)
	How odd. I had never even considered that there was a debate-- I was taught two spaces, and I've always used two spaces. And frankly, I never really notice unless there are no spaces after punctuation. (Reply to this)(Thread)

Word. -

sandiera, 2004-12-18 10:26 am UTC

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