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From: Terry Farrell on 4 Apr 2010 13:11 Surely back in the days when printing was achieved by placing mirror characters onto a plate, there must have been a set of spaces for different uses (following a comma, following quotation marks, following an end of sentence stop, etc.). The typewriter had a limited availability of characters, so the number of different spaces was sacrificed - hence the need for a double space after the end-of-sentence stop. Sometimes when I read my daily newspaper, I wish they would return to 'hot metal' presses! Terry Farrell "CyberTaz" <onlygeneraltaz1(a)com.cast.net> wrote in message news:C7DE20E7.5D357%onlygeneraltaz1(a)com.cast.net... > 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
From: bj on 4 Apr 2010 13:53 "Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell(a)msn.com> wrote in message news:#p43ZnB1KHA.220(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > > Sometimes when I read my daily newspaper, I wish they would return to 'hot > metal' presses! > The way things are going, you won't have to worry about what's *on* the paper -- there won't *be* any paper, it'll all be online. Maybe a Daily Linker to give titles & article links. Probably all by e-mail. I sure do spend a lot less time on the (ever-shrinking) daily paper than I used to! even the Sunday paper doesn't take that long anymore. It's confusing my routine. :-) bj (what are they lining bird-cages with now?)
From: Suzanne S. Barnhill on 4 Apr 2010 14:12 Along with not trimming, there is the issue of not noticing that you are posting your answer in an existing line, which is going to start with a quote character. This makes it very hard to determine where the reply begins, since it appears to be part of the quoted text. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell(a)msn.com> wrote in message news:O012GiB1KHA.776(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > What really annoys me about bottom posting is that many perpetrators NEVER > trim the post. I agree that keeping at least the previous answer when you > reply is necessary, but sometimes replies are so far down the page I just > refuse to scroll down to read the answer. > > Top posting a simple answer to a simple question seems to work really well > in here where most users top post. > > Terry Farrell > > "Twayne" <nobody(a)spamcop.net> wrote in message > news:#zP33XB1KHA.224(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... >> In news:5101d21cb2dave(a)triffid.co.uk, >> Dave Symes <dave(a)triffid.co.uk> typed: >>> In article <uUznC$p0KHA.3652(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl>, >>> Tom Willett <tom(a)youreadaisyifyoudo.com> wrote: >>> [Snippy] >>> >>>> The bottom line is, who really cares? Except maybe those >>>> who chastise others for top posting ;-) >>> >>> Top posting is a heinous crime, for which you should be >>> flogged around the fleet. >> >> On some sites. But here the concensus seems to be that it doesn't matter. >> I bottom post unless there is already a top post; then I top post to keep >> it all aligned. >> It's a silly thing for anyone to argue about or even debate, actually. >> Netiquette & most gurus believe in the trim & inline, then bottom if no >> inline. Personally I couldn't care which. I stay out of trouble by >> simply using what the concensus is. Oh, and ignoring dummies who troll to >> make an arguement out of it. >> >> I agree - who really cares? >> >> HTH, >> >> Twayne` >> >>> Dave >>> >>> And no emoticon get-out, it's a serious business y'know. >>> >>> :-\~ >> >> >> >
From: Suzanne S. Barnhill on 4 Apr 2010 14:17 When compositors set type by hand, they insert spaces of varying widths to make up the line. A Linotype automatically inserts the correct number of thin spaces between words to justify the line (the Linotypist types all the characters, pressing the spacebar once after each; when he hits Return, the machine does the spacing automatically, just as in Word). In some typesetting manual, I saw an instruction to leave "the space of the line" (that is, the automatic space, whatever that turns out to be) after a period, which would mean one press of the spacebar. By and large, if you examine contemporary printed books from mainline publishing houses, you'll see this convention followed, but if you look at older books (typeset in the nineteenth century, for example), you may well see more space between sentences. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell(a)msn.com> wrote in message news:%23p43ZnB1KHA.220(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > Surely back in the days when printing was achieved by placing mirror > characters onto a plate, there must have been a set of spaces for > different uses (following a comma, following quotation marks, following an > end of sentence stop, etc.). The typewriter had a limited availability of > characters, so the number of different spaces was sacrificed - hence the > need for a double space after the end-of-sentence stop. > > Sometimes when I read my daily newspaper, I wish they would return to 'hot > metal' presses! > > Terry Farrell > > "CyberTaz" <onlygeneraltaz1(a)com.cast.net> wrote in message > news:C7DE20E7.5D357%onlygeneraltaz1(a)com.cast.net... >> 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 > >
From: CyberTaz on 4 Apr 2010 15:31
<snip> On 4/4/10 12:48 PM, in article #psujaB1KHA.224(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl, "Twayne" <nobody(a)spamcop.net> wrote: > > Yeah, but ... wouldn't you consider cursive writing to be moot > compared to a set of keys? <snip> Absolutely not. The purpose of the space is based on the same fundamental principle regardless of the technology being used to produce the document :-) Regards |:>) Bob Jones [MVP] Office:Mac |