Monday, March 30, 2009

Punctuation

I've got this sort of running debate going on about about grammar and proper usage of punctuation and spaces. Growing up, I learned that after a period (or question mark or what have you), there were 2 spaces. However, in college I'm almost positive that the writing class I had discussed this issue and we learned that we don't in fact need 2 spaces after a period.

So, instead of writing:
This blog is silly. Who really cares about spaces after periods?
You can write:
This blog is silly. Who really cares about spaces after periods?

Being the nerd-dork that I am, I polled various friends and co-workers and may of them insist on the 2 space rule. But, being the rebel that I am, I insist on using one space. I was given some pause when I considered my cover letters, work emails, Relay For Life correspondence and other "official" typed matter. I might be a rebel in my punctuation, but I don't want to come across as ignorant or wrong. So I looked around.

Here's some back up, and something I thought was interesting. It talks a bit about how, today, characters aren't the same size but rather proportional to one another, making them easier to read and more visually clean. And if you're really bored, you can read about the Great Space Debate.

If you just want an answer though, I did what I should have done in the beginning and consulted the MLA. Basically, you can do whatever you want. One or two spaces is acceptable.

I shall continue to rock the one space, and wonder why on earth I spent the time to write this blog entry.

4 comments:

Greg said...

Oh, Michael. If you were a true rebel, you wouldn't have taken the time to look up the rules.

For me, one space is less visually appealing. That's all.

mikaroni said...

See, if I was a true rebel, I think I probably wouldn't have bothered to prove anyone right or wrong.

And who's the dude that went to art school? Your "visually appealing" makes me sad in my happy places.

:)

Kate J said...

I haven't looked at the links yet (I have one more minute left of my "lunch hour" ...whoops, minute gone now), but I LOVE YOU FOR WRITING THIS BLOG ENTRY. I will, however, continue using two spaces. It's only right. :)

mikaroni said...

Haha, I'm glad it made someone happy. By the way, I believe I only see one space after the period in your comment... =P