Double-Spacers are Not Evil

2011-01-14 08:46:01 by jdixon

Recently, a torrent of criticism has been unleashed towards "double-spacers", bitching and moaning about our excessive keystrokes. Single-spacers en masse are mocking our outdated beliefs. They trot out their modern typographers, quoting type-space rules and style guides. If the level of vitriol is any measure, we've caused them a great deal of distress.

Yes, I admit it, I'm a lifelong two-spacer. The habit was learned as early as middle school, drilled home in high school, and reinforced in college. It's the sort of thing that becomes ingrained and part of your muscle memory. So trust me when I say it's no small task to unlearn this behavior. But I have absolutely no qualms about changing my spacing if it's the right thing to do. In fact, I've already started.

I'm not quite sure what teed up these people and unleashed their rage over such an innocuous thing. Are their lives so methodical that a few extra pixels cause their stabilities to unravel? I have little doubt that what they're preaching is the truth. That's not the crux of my issue. I'm concerned over their lack of reasonable discourse; what they fail to realize is that we double-spacers were trained in this manner over many years. We want to do the right thing. I'd be happy to save a few extra keystrokes. But I don't need to be chided to gain the proper motivation to do so.

In other words, don't be a dick. These are not the typographical equivalent of the Crusades. Publish your findings and make your point. Oh, and give us time to adapt. My delete key is working overtime.

Comments

at 2011-01-14 12:27:33, BrianD wrote in to say...

I'm going to start using three spaces between sentences just to piss off designers.

at 2011-01-14 12:30:15, Jason Dixon wrote in to say...

That seems like the prudent thing to do.

at 2011-01-14 14:36:08, ddpbsd wrote in to say...

I treat the fanatical uni-spacers the same way I treat the people who care about the font. I laugh at them. Then I tell them to get off my lawn.

at 2011-01-14 14:44:54, Jason Dixon wrote in to say...

It sounds like there's animosity on both sides. I think the only reasonable solution is to do away with all forms of grammatical syntax.

at 2011-02-15 09:02:12, tbert wrote in to say...

"don't be a dick"

but then how will i effectively communicate?

at 2011-02-28 16:27:03, Dan Mundy wrote in to say...

It actually doesn't matter a bit on the Internet, because HTML strips out the extra spaces and makes everyone a single-spacer. Proof: this article.

at 2011-03-14 21:14:17, Devon H. O'Dell wrote in to say...

Read the Chicago Manual of Style, Jason. Not only is it definitive, its acronym is CMOS.

at 2011-05-11 11:48:53, F2 wrote in to say...

double spacing still looks better, typographers be damned!

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