14.1.11

On the long list of mistakes that annoy me when I am copyediting someone else's writing,* this is #1: putting two spaces after a period. Finding this in someone's paper or chapter inevitably results in learning that the author in question learned to type on a typewriter. This leads to an explanation that one puts two spaces after a period on a typewriter because those fonts are, of necessity, monospace; because computer fonts vary the size of their letters, two spaces are unneeded. I have never convinced anyone to change, but this won't stop me from bringing it up every time.


*I once edited a chapter that made heavy use of alliteration because, as I was told, it made the writing 'sound more like poetry.'

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