One space or two? AP has spoken

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Author Message ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 669 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Monday, December 30, 2013 - 02:21 pm:    Okay, as I recall from a previous thread, many of us still believe in the two spaces after a period rule. Apparently this is no longer the case according to this article: http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/The_rule_stands_One_space_after_a_period_Period_46131.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=linkedin# My guess is that when text is justified, spacing will adjust anyway and two spaces after a period in some cases will really leave a huge gap. Go figure. Tracy Van Niel, FCSI, CCS Senior Member Username: tracy_van_niel Post Number: 332 Registered: 04-2002 Posted on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 - 03:11 pm:    Interesting. A couple of years ago, I was involved with the preparation of a national newsletter for the parent club I belong to (dog related, Border Terriers). We were told by the publisher to only use one space after a period for all of the articles. I use to do a search and replace for two spaces to one space after I was done working on an article just to make sure I hadn't skipped any. Tracy L. Van Niel, FCSI, CCS Mark Gilligan SE, Senior Member Username: mark_gilligan Post Number: 628 Registered: 10-2007 Posted on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 - 04:47 pm:    I continue to use two spaces. The justification for this policy is subjective and not mandatory unless required by a client or employer. Chris Grimm, CSI, CCS, SCIPa, LEED AP BD+C, MAI, RLA Senior Member Username: tsugaguy Post Number: 313 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Wednesday, January 01, 2014 - 06:41 am:    I grew up with a typewriter and used the extra space. In college a publishing friend enlightened me about digital fonts now being proportionally spaced (mostly) and that the rule had changed. So I've been using one space ever since, except when an employer requires otherwise. I have no problem adjusting when needed. The comments in the article are interesting. Especially this one: "Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.), the standard for much of the publishing industry, also uses a single space. "Chicago advises leaving a single character space, not two spaces, between sentences and after colons used within a sentence . . . and this recommendation applies to both the manuscript and the published work." (2.9) " Also interesting that several people commented the 6th Edition of AP Stylebook has changed back to two spaces. Off topic, but HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Guest (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Wednesday, January 01, 2014 - 01:20 pm:    Speaking about proportional font, what about those that justify (aligned left & right margins) a non-proportional font? You can "fly" an airplane through some of those spaces! ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 671 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, January 01, 2014 - 04:51 pm:    But it's still only a single space. Logic and end results not withstanding, rules are rules (and some may be broken when needed). More important, I agree with Chris. Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, prosperous and safe New Year. Ronald L. Geren, FCSI, AIA, CCS, CCCA, SCIP Senior Member Username: specman Post Number: 1171 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Wednesday, January 01, 2014 - 05:03 pm:    As an argument in support of us "two-spacers," I offer the following article: http://www.heracliteanriver.com/?p=324 However, since I'm working towards getting a book published, I'm sure I'll be asked by the publisher to replace my double spaces with single spaces. Ron Geren, FCSI, AIA, CCS, CCCA, SCIP www.specsandcodes.com William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS Senior Member Username: wpegues Post Number: 892 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, January 01, 2014 - 11:16 pm:    Ron, Thanks for the reference to the article that busts much of the urban myth of the 'reasons' often given for the single space and the article's numerous historical references. I have always thought it humorous since I did some part time work in the early and mid 1970s for a couple newspapers there there were specific rules, and specific keying combinations to create the various spaces (standard space bar for the typical space, the 'en' space after most punctuation and the 'em' space after periods (and sometimes colons). This was keying in articles for the papers when were put out paper 'teletype' tape which was then fed into the type setting systems. Some book publishers still employe this system, especially for their better quality books, and it is easy to see the much fatter space after a period, even on fully justified text using a proportional font - just as this article talks about. Myself, I use 2 spaces to come as close to the 'em' space width after periods and after colons. I also use a textbook type font, New Century Schoolbook to make reading even easier. William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS, SCIP Affiliate WDG Architecture, Washington, DC | Dallas, TX Dave Metzger Senior Member Username: davemetzger Post Number: 485 Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2014 - 09:27 am:    I find it amusing how every profession has its highly esoteric issues, with vociferous adherents on each side of the issue, and about which the rest of the world doesn't give a, um, doesn't have the same degree of concern. We specifiers are of course not immune to this. Just look at some of the threads in 4specs: "Related Work" paragraph? Assigning work to spec sections? Capitalize the "p" in portland cement? And don't even mention "vinyl". John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: john_regener Post Number: 677 Registered: 04-2002 Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2014 - 11:19 am:    What about "hard spaces?" With macros in a word processing program, spaces may become "invisible characters" and treated as an integral component of a word. Consider an ASTM designation. To keep "ASTM" with the number/letter designation, a "hard space" is used. Or, in MS Word, a command can be used to "keep with next", like we need to bloat Word files even more. But I prefer to keep a reference such as "ASTM A626" without interruption. A macro can make the task semi-automagic, Now, the matter of whether there's a space between the letter and the numbers in an ASTM designation is for another esoteric discussion (?). Sheldon Wolfe Senior Member Username: sheldon_wolfe Post Number: 702 Registered: 01-2003 Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2014 - 06:03 pm:    In Word, a hard space is entered with ctrl+shift+space, not keep with next. Keep with next is used to keep paragraphs together. Example: Preventing a heading from being separated from the text that follows. It's much better than forced page breaks, which might work well when entered, but can result in a page with a lot of white space after later editing. I do not insert a space between the letter and number parts of ASTM numbers; I figure if they don't think it's necessary - look at their website - I don't need it either. John, are you ever going to stop grumbling about Word? Tony Wolf, AIA, CCS, LEED-AP Senior Member Username: tony_wolf Post Number: 61 Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Friday, January 03, 2014 - 09:01 am:    Dave: Well said. The more important question is whether it's one or two spaces after a colon. o ~ < \_/ Chris Grimm, CSI, CCS, SCIPa, LEED AP BD+C, MAI, RLA Senior Member Username: tsugaguy Post Number: 314 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Friday, January 03, 2014 - 01:39 pm:    I find it amusing too. I'm sure there are no horror stories of permit rejection, RFI overload, change orders, or constructability issues over the number of spaces. But light issues like this make for a quick diversion every now & then. I suppose a macro could alternate between single and double spaces between sentences throughout a set of specs. Then we could find out! John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1550 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Saturday, January 25, 2014 - 01:36 pm:    I wonder if those of you who use Arcom MasterSpec have noticed that they went to the one space method sometime last year (or maybe earlier). No more double spaces in any of their documents. Michael Heinsdorf, P.E. Senior Member Username: michael_heinsdorf_pe Post Number: 9 Registered: 01-2014 Posted on Monday, January 27, 2014 - 02:34 pm:    MasterSpec follows the Chicago Manual of Style (not always in a timely fashion) which has reverted back to a single space after a period. We have a team of technical editors that review each section at least four times before they are issued, and the transition was a source of contention. We do use a "hard space" for ASTM designations.