3 ms·

I would like to see a greater tolerance for different preferences. I like one space, but totally fine for some people to use two spaces. It’s not their problem

I would like to see a greater tolerance for different preferences. I like one space, but totally fine for some people to use two spaces. It’s not their problem if I stab my eyes out with a pencil when I see two spaces.

throwawaymaths 3y ago
Imagine having not just two spaces but a whole damn line to emphasize the pauses in text: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#/media/File%3AUnited_States_Declaration_of_Independence.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of... If two spaces causes you to stab your eyes for this I demand no less than seppuku
- GavinMcG 3y ago
  That seems like an unfortunate tool to have discarded. Right now, I can use vertical separation to structure text, but horizontal separation.... Well, that's far more limited. Within sentences, there's the dash—either em or space-en-space, depending on where you're from—and there are plenty of other structural options. Between sentences, you've got the ellipsis, and that's it. The way they're used in the Declaration, in place of paragraph breaks, is helpful even when you're not just trying to save space—for example, to structure a list of short words or phrases without creating the visual separation from the text that comes with using separate lines.
  - ChristianGeek 3y ago
    An ellipsis should never be used between sentences; you should be using a semi-colon.
    - GavinMcG 3y ago
      No, that’s the whole point I’m making. A semicolon is no better than terminal punctuation in creating visual horizontal space, which is a tool for communicating semantic structure, but one that we never use. I am not speaking to what is grammatically proper, but rather to what is possible outside of current accepted usage.
wrycoder 3y ago
Fully justified text must drive you insane!
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
unsignedint 3y ago
I have no issues with people exercising their personal choices when it comes to the number of spaces after a period. However, I found it to be quite annoying when they began complaining about my preference for a single space and asserting that their method of using two spaces is more correct than mine. Ultimately, I've come to the realization that this is more akin to a matter of personal belief rather than a technicality. It seems nearly impossible to bridge the gap and find a consensus on this issue.
- yellowapple 3y ago
  My issue with single-space is that it turns programmatically parsing out sentences from "pretty simple regex on terminating punctuation + (two spaces OR newline)" to "tangled mess of heuristics and corner-cases". Obviously humans can figure this out easily, so I don't really notice or care if I'm reading something with single-spaced sentences, and it's pretty rare that I need to parse sentences... but the moment that need does arise, I'm gonna end up judging the hell out of that "personal choice" - to say the least.
  - distcs 3y ago
    What is a use-case for parsing out sentences? I don't think I've ever had to do that. So curious when do you need to parse out sentences?
    - yellowapple 3y ago
      Most common for me would be keyboard navigation in text editors. Emacs, for example, assumes double-spaced sentences by default when using M-a / M-e / M-k / C-x DEL for sentence-based navigation/editing: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Sentences.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Se... Being able to count sentences per paragraph, words per sentence, etc. is also handy for maintaining good writing style. Excessively-long sentences or paragraphs can be trickier for folks to read; having solid metrics around sentence/paragraph length helps identify candidates for simplification.
    - 3y ago

throwawaymaths 3y ago

Imagine having not just two spaces but a whole damn line to emphasize the pauses in text: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#/media/File%3AUnited_States_Declaration_of_Independence.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of... If two spaces causes you to stab your eyes for this I demand no less than seppuku

GavinMcG 3y ago
That seems like an unfortunate tool to have discarded. Right now, I can use vertical separation to structure text, but horizontal separation.... Well, that's far more limited. Within sentences, there's the dash—either em or space-en-space, depending on where you're from—and there are plenty of other structural options. Between sentences, you've got the ellipsis, and that's it. The way they're used in the Declaration, in place of paragraph breaks, is helpful even when you're not just trying to save space—for example, to structure a list of short words or phrases without creating the visual separation from the text that comes with using separate lines.
- ChristianGeek 3y ago
  An ellipsis should never be used between sentences; you should be using a semi-colon.
  - GavinMcG 3y ago
    No, that’s the whole point I’m making. A semicolon is no better than terminal punctuation in creating visual horizontal space, which is a tool for communicating semantic structure, but one that we never use. I am not speaking to what is grammatically proper, but rather to what is possible outside of current accepted usage.

wrycoder 3y ago

Fully justified text must drive you insane!

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

unsignedint 3y ago

I have no issues with people exercising their personal choices when it comes to the number of spaces after a period. However, I found it to be quite annoying when they began complaining about my preference for a single space and asserting that their method of using two spaces is more correct than mine. Ultimately, I've come to the realization that this is more akin to a matter of personal belief rather than a technicality. It seems nearly impossible to bridge the gap and find a consensus on this issue.

yellowapple 3y ago
My issue with single-space is that it turns programmatically parsing out sentences from "pretty simple regex on terminating punctuation + (two spaces OR newline)" to "tangled mess of heuristics and corner-cases". Obviously humans can figure this out easily, so I don't really notice or care if I'm reading something with single-spaced sentences, and it's pretty rare that I need to parse sentences... but the moment that need does arise, I'm gonna end up judging the hell out of that "personal choice" - to say the least.
- distcs 3y ago
  What is a use-case for parsing out sentences? I don't think I've ever had to do that. So curious when do you need to parse out sentences?
  - yellowapple 3y ago
    Most common for me would be keyboard navigation in text editors. Emacs, for example, assumes double-spaced sentences by default when using M-a / M-e / M-k / C-x DEL for sentence-based navigation/editing: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Sentences.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Se... Being able to count sentences per paragraph, words per sentence, etc. is also handy for maintaining good writing style. Excessively-long sentences or paragraphs can be trickier for folks to read; having solid metrics around sentence/paragraph length helps identify candidates for simplification.
  - 3y ago