[CyberTaz]

Exactly the point...

It wasn't until the introduction of the typewriter that the concept of "a"
space took on any finite dimension. The objective of "space between
sentences" is for the purpose of visual clarity, but the appropriate amount
of space is subjectively predicated on what precedes & follows the space. I
seriously doubt that '2 spaces' ever dripped from the tongue or even crossed
the mind of Guttenberg.

As so often happens, laxity in communication is what has triggered this
seemingly unending but totally unfounded debate. My 'guess' is that the
actual original instruction was "Press the spacebar twice after a period."
because pressing the spacebar once often did not create a sufficient amount
of space. The compensatory workaround for *increasing the amount of space*
became loosely translated into "type 2 spaces".

Logically there can't be "2 spaces" -- the size of the 1 space is either
more or less, narrower or wider. To accomplish the objective on a typewriter
necessitates pressing the space bar a second time, whereas the precise
adjustment of that space is intrinsic to proportional fonts.

Regards |:)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 4/3/10 5:35 PM, in article , "bj"
wrote:

When I was first taught to *type* the teacher was most insistant about
2-spaces & even got cranky because I used my *left* thumb to press the
spacebar (I still do, more than 50 years later).

My early *hand*-writing school years were in several different
states/countries/languages; no telling what I was told.
bj

"CyberTaz" wrote in message
.. .
Hi Stephen;

One more voice to the choir after having watched this conversation...
Whenever it arises :-) I'm always tempted to ask one fundamental question;

If you think back to when you first were taught to print sentences, did
your
teacher instruct you to put "2 spaces" between sentences or was the
instruction to leave "space" between sentences?

Regards |:)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac