Two spaces after a period. They are an integral part of the punctuation mark, necessary to communicate the fullness of the full stop.
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This is a common misconception from a time when typewriters were used to communicate to type setters, and two spaces meant "em space" (as in full stop) whereas one meant "en space" (as an abbreviation). With the advent of real-time computer typesetting, the two spaces were rendered unnecessary.
jul 31, 2025, 6:37 pm • 1 0 • view
Except that they *are* necessary to communicate the meaning of the punctuation mark, and this is not a misconception on my part. Merely pedantry, as suggested.
jul 31, 2025, 6:39 pm • 0 0 • view
I mean, *I'm* the one being pedantic here, because Microsoft Word already sets it as an en or em space with one space, fulfilling the type foundry's intent to communicate a full stop. This is like someone saying "well actually, it's pronounced 'expecially'." Source: I worked in book production.
jul 31, 2025, 6:43 pm • 0 0 • view
It's also one space in MLA, Chicago, APA, and AP style guides.
jul 31, 2025, 6:44 pm • 1 0 • view
Unless you’re telling me that all systems (including this one) regularly insert an em-space after a period that ends a sentence (as opposed to other lists of period-based punctuation marks), I will have to disagree. And since an em-space is two standard spaces, my point stands.
jul 31, 2025, 9:20 pm • 0 0 • view
I mean, they mostly don't but typography is broadly terrible? And an em space is the width of an M while an en space is the width of an N, so it's not 2:1 and in fact varies by font. Monospace fonts (like Courier New) still benefit from the two spaces if you're just going for a nostalgic look.
jul 31, 2025, 11:04 pm • 0 0 • view
This seems important to you so keep doing you, but it's not typographically "correct", just an idiosyncratic personal preference, which is cool and fine.
jul 31, 2025, 11:04 pm • 0 0 • view