Do you double space?
- buddhu
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What is right depends on the situation.
When I started out as a writer the prescribed MS format was double line-spacing with wide margins and a double space after each sentence. In most situations now a single space suffices. As for the formatting applied by software, that will vary depending on what program you're using, and the preferences you have set. Word and Quark, for example, each have their quirks.
As for quotes, part of my job now involves a bit of involvement in magazine production and typography. To my mind, nothing looks worse that an article in Times with "inch marks" instead of proper curly quotes.
Cran, your double spaces won't show up because most web clients render multiple consecutive spaces in HTML pages as a single space.
When I started out as a writer the prescribed MS format was double line-spacing with wide margins and a double space after each sentence. In most situations now a single space suffices. As for the formatting applied by software, that will vary depending on what program you're using, and the preferences you have set. Word and Quark, for example, each have their quirks.
As for quotes, part of my job now involves a bit of involvement in magazine production and typography. To my mind, nothing looks worse that an article in Times with "inch marks" instead of proper curly quotes.
Cran, your double spaces won't show up because most web clients render multiple consecutive spaces in HTML pages as a single space.
- Doug_Tipple
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When I started off to college in 1961, I remember buying a new typewriter to take with me to school. It cost about $100. There was a fellow in my hometown who sold typewriters as a way of making a little extra money.
If I remember correctly, the typewriter was a portable Smith-Corona, and two type faces were available: Pica and Elite. I got the Pica type. Also, being made of steel, the typewriter was heavy, not something that you would want to carry much, unless you were into strength training.
Forty five years later my old typewriter is long gone, and I am typing on a personal computer with a word processor that even lets me know if I am misspelling a word. It's hard to believe that I can insert a word without having to type the whole page over again. Yes, way back then, we were instructed to use two spaces after a sentence, but that was ancient history. The structure of written language is changing, as well. I have a friend who writes me long letters without any kind of sentence structure at all, just a stream of fragments, separated now and then with a space. Sometimes she puts in a period, but it doesn't mean that she has come to an end of a sentence. She puts them in because they are cute or some reasoning like that, I suppose.
If I remember correctly, the typewriter was a portable Smith-Corona, and two type faces were available: Pica and Elite. I got the Pica type. Also, being made of steel, the typewriter was heavy, not something that you would want to carry much, unless you were into strength training.
Forty five years later my old typewriter is long gone, and I am typing on a personal computer with a word processor that even lets me know if I am misspelling a word. It's hard to believe that I can insert a word without having to type the whole page over again. Yes, way back then, we were instructed to use two spaces after a sentence, but that was ancient history. The structure of written language is changing, as well. I have a friend who writes me long letters without any kind of sentence structure at all, just a stream of fragments, separated now and then with a space. Sometimes she puts in a period, but it doesn't mean that she has come to an end of a sentence. She puts them in because they are cute or some reasoning like that, I suppose.
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I still have an old manual typewriter stashed in the attic. The kind that if you struck 2 letters at once, you'd have to stop for a moment to separate the bars holding the typeface. Big black thing and weighs a ton. Looks like a prop from a movie from the 30's
The way the language is spoken and written constantly changes. However, old habits die hard, so I continue to click the space bar twice at the end of a sentence.
The way the language is spoken and written constantly changes. However, old habits die hard, so I continue to click the space bar twice at the end of a sentence.
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I heard from somebody that the last typewriter shop in the world recently closed. It was either in Massachusetts or England (I get them mixed up) and had been around for something like 150 years. Of course I think typewriters are pretty useless, but that still makes me sad.
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- Innocent Bystander
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The Vermont Country Store still sells them. Manual Olivetti's, and they recently added electronic ones!Cranberry wrote:I heard from somebody that the last typewriter shop in the world recently closed.
I love the Vermont Country Store! When you click on a product, it shows you other items it thinks you might enjoy, such as an old-fashioned pencil sharpener, a set of 1950's original TV trays, and one of those original, no-frills black telephones.
Oooo! Dr. Scholl's! And Tangee lipstick!
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- izzarina
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Oooo!!! I do too! But I've never been to their website (I get the catalog in the mail). I think I need to now. They have such cool stuff.Lambchop wrote:I love the Vermont Country Store! When you click on a product, it shows you other items it thinks you might enjoy, such as an old-fashioned pencil sharpener, a set of 1950's original TV trays, and one of those original, no-frills black telephones.
Oooo! Dr. Scholl's! And Tangee lipstick!
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- RonKiley
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You guys must all be very young. When I was in school I learned to hand set type for our printing press. We had to memorize the job case so that we could set type without needing to look to see which letter was where. It was a great skill which I probably retained for 2 years tops.
Ron
Ron
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hmmm. thought you didnt watch tv due to religous beliefs???Cranberry wrote:I'm not joking, sadly. One is called "England" and the other is called "New England" and they both look the same on TV.buddhu wrote:Cranberry wrote:... It was either in Massachusetts or England (I get them mixed up) ...
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Re: Do you double space?
Cranberry wrote: Innocent Bystander wrote:
Cranberry wrote:
I don't watch television.
Don't be sarky, now, Cran.
I really don't watch television (for religious reasons). I didn't mean that in a sarcastic way. Sorry.
Listen to me young fellow, what need is there for fish to sing when i can roar and bellow?
- Charlene
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I use 2 spaces at the end of a sentence because when I learned to type on a typewriter that's what was required, and old habits die hard. When I took a word processing class when computers first became common, they said use one space, so I tried to remember that. Then when I had a job as a medical transcriptionist, the office wanted two spaces again.
My daughter has been taught to use one space, so now that I'm not doing transcription at home I took off the error checking for single spaces at the end of sentences from our Word program so it won't drive her crazy when she does schoolwork.
And I also thought from the title this was going to be about double spacing the lines of type, not the spaces at the end of sentences. That was also required in the transcription job, so the anal office manager had lots of room to write nasty little notes with her red felt pen. (Can you tell this was not my favorite job?)
I LOVE spell check! And being able to go back and change one word without retyping the whole page! Remember white-out and the old typewriter erasers that looked like a pencil with a brush at the other end? Remember erasing so hard that you tore a hole in the paper and had to redo it all anyway?
My daughter has been taught to use one space, so now that I'm not doing transcription at home I took off the error checking for single spaces at the end of sentences from our Word program so it won't drive her crazy when she does schoolwork.
And I also thought from the title this was going to be about double spacing the lines of type, not the spaces at the end of sentences. That was also required in the transcription job, so the anal office manager had lots of room to write nasty little notes with her red felt pen. (Can you tell this was not my favorite job?)
I LOVE spell check! And being able to go back and change one word without retyping the whole page! Remember white-out and the old typewriter erasers that looked like a pencil with a brush at the other end? Remember erasing so hard that you tore a hole in the paper and had to redo it all anyway?
Charlene
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Only for the last couple years. There was a time when I watched television and even watched movies, too. Imagine the horror!flanum wrote:Cranberry wrote: Innocent Bystander wrote:
Cranberry wrote:
I don't watch television.
Don't be sarky, now, Cran.
I really don't watch television (for religious reasons). I didn't mean that in a sarcastic way. Sorry.
P.S. One of you messed up the quote boxes pretty bad. You have each of us saying things we didn't.