Re: should . be followed by doublespace?
On Thu, Aug 08, 2002 at 11:09:01AM -0700, Wendell Cochran wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 07, 2002 at 01:23:27PM -0400, Daniel Barclay wrote:
> >> From: Thanasis Kinias <tkinias@optimalco.com>
> >>> ... the placement of quotation marks inside of punctuation come to
> >>> mind.
> >
> >> I've seen that a lot for computer-related quotes. Is that
> >> more common in UK English for non-computer-related quoting?
>
> >My impression is that quotation marks inside punctuation is more common.
> >That said, I seem to remember being taught the opposite at school.
> [snip]
>
> Editors spend an inordinate amount of time on the point, calling
> `inside'
> `U.S. style' & `logical' `British style'. See almost any stylebook or
> usage authority such as H. W. Fowler's _Modern English Usage_ (any
> incarnation). . . . In Fowler you may need the keywords `stops',
> `punctuation', & `inverted commas'.
>
> I have never observed a rational defense of U.S. style (`looks better
> that way' does not qualify), & for 20+ years in D. C. enforced Brit
> style in a science news magazine -- with never once an objection from
> either side of the Atlantic.
>
> A great mystery to me is why computer programmers -- surely logical
> bigots while programming -- so easily abandon logical style when
> punctuating everyday prose.
>
In the U.S., we were all (or should have been) taught to _always_ put
the quotes outside final punctuation. However, I agree that this is
illogical. And since the Brits are doing the other way, I figure I can
get away with it. I also prefer British spelling of some words, like
"traveller". (I won't go so far as to include "colour" in that. ;-)
> As for space between sentences, in recent years I find more & more
> confusion caused by the single space. Consider `. . . meanwhile, back
> in D. C. Power to the people . . .' (That's 2 sentences. See also
> `D. C. Power Lab' in the Jargon File.) . . . Oh, I could cite better
> -- worse? -- examples from an oil & gas report I'm editing right now,
> but I won't.
Don't know why you insert spaces after each period in the elipsis. And
since the last elipsis would include the end of a sentence, I'd have it
as four dots. Thus:
... meanwhile, back in D.C. Power to the people....
Personally, I vote for single spacing after periods. My wife, the
typographer, says that not all people receive email in monospaced fonts.
If your mail comes to you in, say, Times New Roman, two spaces will be
too much space after the period.
Paul
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