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> [double spacing between sentences] isn't topographically sound Why not? In speech, pauses between sentences are longer than pauses between words... I've nev
by philsnow 7y ago
> [double spacing between sentences] isn't topographically sound
Why not? In speech, pauses between sentences are longer than pauses between words... I've never understood this debate.
But then, I'm the kind of guy who will write prose like
> He shouted, "Watch out!".
... with duplicated punctuation inside the quotation marks (because they carry meaning and are part of the quotation), so clearly I don't know the MLA or whatever.
- samatman 7y agoIt's not typographically sound. That is to say, typographers don't typeset books, newspapers, or magazine with double-spacing after a sentence. It's a style that emerged from typewriting, because it makes it easier to read monospaced text. Which is another reason I do it, I'm usually typing in a mono font even when I'm working on prose. That was my point, actually. Amusingly, the two sentences in the above paragraph have two spaces between them, as do this and the next. But you won't see it, because browsers typeset with one space between sentences.
- globular-toast 7y agoThey don't double space, but most will allow more space. You can double space in TeX source but TeX will apply its own spacing rules which, by default, leave more space after a full stop.
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoActually, having a slightly longer space after a sentence is common typographic practice and is done by default e.g. in LaTeX. As usual, Wikipedia has a lengthy article on the practice, which dates back to Gutenberg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sentence_spacing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sentence_spacing