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> The practice [of two spaces after the period] originally came from typesetting I'm just challenging that assertion, which is commonplace, but there's plenty

• CamperBob2 7y ago
  It goes back much further than the late 18th century. This is a decent summary, although a bit short on citations for my liking: https://thecontractsguy.net/2014/02/02/spacing-after-periods/ https://thecontractsguy.net/2014/02/02/spacing-after-periods... Literally centuries of typesetters and printers believed that a wider space was necessary after a period, particularly in the English-speaking world. It was the standard since at least the time that William Caslon created the first English typeface in the early 1700s (and part of a tradition that went back further), and it was not seriously questioned among English or American typesetters until the 1920s or so. Extra space after each sentence was and is a good idea, whether you're talking about handwritten documents or typeset ones. Typewritten documents arguably benefit the least from the practice. Point being, when single-space advocates say that double-spacing is obsolete and unnecessary because we don't use typewriters anymore, they are just plain wrong.
  • dnautics 7y ago
    We're agreeing.