help with extremely stupid problem

[towsonu2003]

I'm writing my thesis, and I have like 100+ pages. when i gave my thesis to my advisor, she told me "leave two spaces after each sentence". :mad: So instead of
"blablabla.[1space]blabla", she wants
"blablabla.[1space2space]blablabla"[1]. :confused: Does anyone know a document that says "leave one space after each sentence in such documents??? google brings all sorts of weird stuff, except what I'm looking for... :-k this is frustrating. very... [-(
All my life, I always left one space after sentences, and ms word never complained. it complains when I leave 2 spaces. thesis guide doesn't mention anything about this crap.
thanks...

[1]even the forum doesn't let me leave two spaces btw sentences. wtf.

[bluevoodoo1]

I have heard of this as well. Check out the MLA...

http://www.mla.org/style_faq3


As a practical matter, however, there is nothing wrong with using two spaces after concluding punctuation marks unless an instructor or editor requests that you do otherwise.

I don't know what your thesis is on, but history/arts/English areas usually use MLA guidelines and I think the sciences use something else. Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a long time since I've written anything of a non-music related type of paper. But it looks like it can be 1 or 2 spaces!

[xequence]

A thesis is the final paper in university, right?

And 100 pages? O_O!!! Thats impossible.

(Sorry, but I have no idea about your problem :P)

[BoyOfDestiny]

I think this business was for people with type writers... The way things are printed now... very readable either way...

Actually, just thought of a stupid hack... When you are done with your paper...

Replace all occurences of '.space' with '.spacespace '

[Brunellus]

I think this business was for people with type writers... The way things are printed now... very readable either way...
OP is talking about spaces after a full-stop, not spaces between lines/paragraph.

My dad always called line/paragraph spacing "primary leading" (pron. LED-ing, as in the metal), but then, he was in the printing trade, as was his father before him.

to the OP: If you're writing to be examined or published by somebody else, you are more or less doomed to accept their style rules. If that means one space after all punctuation--well, you'll have to roll with it. You can appeal to external style sheets/manuals all you want, but at the end of the day, the editor/examiner is the one who calls the shots with stylistic elements. Sorry.

[matthew]

When I took a typing class in 1987 on a manual typewriter using two spaces at the end of a sentence was standard in the class, which was being taught by a lady in her late 60s. I guess this was used at some time...that class is the only place I ever saw it until today and your post.

[towsonu2003]

I have heard of this as well. Check out the MLA... thanks for the tip (which made me even more pessimistic about this).
I'm using APA -sorry forgot to say... APA doesn't mention this weirdness. or does it?? :confused: #%^@$% (...)

PS. Thesis => graduate school
PSS. APA -> american psychology association

to the OP: If you're writing to be examined or published by somebody else, you are more or less doomed to accept their style rules. If that means one space after all punctuation--well, you'll have to roll with it. You can appeal to external style sheets/manuals all you want, but at the end of the day, the editor/examiner is the one who calls the shots with stylistic elements. Sorry.
If I can find a document that says otherwise, I might be able not to edit my 100+ pages and insert one more space after each sentence (omg omg omg)

to the OP: If you're writing to be examined or published by somebody else, you are more or less doomed to accept their style rules. If that means one space after all punctuation--well, you'll have to roll with it. You can appeal to external style sheets/manuals all you want, but at the end of the day, the editor/examiner is the one who calls the shots with stylistic elements. Sorry. omg omg and some more omg
omg -> oh my god, wtf did I put myself in... life: bad choices that hunt you.

[Bandit]

I'm writing my thesis, and I have like 100+ pages. when i gave my thesis to my advisor, she told me "leave two spaces after each sentence". :mad: So instead of
"blablabla.[1space]blabla", she wants
"blablabla.[1space2space]blablabla"[1]. :confused: Does anyone know a document that says "leave one space after each sentence in such documents??? google brings all sorts of weird stuff, except what I'm looking for... :-k this is frustrating. very... [-(
All my life, I always left one space after sentences, and ms word never complained. it complains when I leave 2 spaces. thesis guide doesn't mention anything about this crap.
thanks...

[1]even the forum doesn't let me leave two spaces btw sentences. wtf.

So she wants everything double spaced. What program are you using to type it?

[Brunellus]

When I took a typing class in 1987 on a manual typewriter using two spaces at the end of a sentence was standard in the class, which was being taught by a lady in her late 60s. I guess this was used at some time...that class is the only place I ever saw it until today and your post.
typesetting pedants will say that the two-space-after-fullstop rule really originated with manual typewriters, which (by necessity) used monospace type. My father insists on having only one space after a fullstop if a sentence is to be justified left and right, so that there are no ugly gaps that open up.

The more I think about this, the more I think about really learning LyX.

[BoyOfDestiny]

So she wants everything double spaced. What program are you using to type it?

I thought that at first too... What he means is there have to be 2 spaces after every sentence.

This is normal. 'space' More stuff.

This is what she wants. 'space' 'space' More stuff.

Just a matter of find/replace, since it should be whitespace sensetive... No manual editing required...

[OffHand]

The official way is one space. That's standard. At least it is in The Netherlands. I suppose it is the same in the UK and USA (English literature I have read always had one space aswell as the English books at the uni I went to.) In my opinion your teacher doesn't have a clue :S

[bluevoodoo1]

thanks for the tip (which made me even more pessimistic about this).
I'm using APA -sorry forgot to say... APA doesn't mention this weirdness. or does it?? :confused: #%^@$% (...)

PS. Thesis => graduate school
PSS. APA -> american psychology association



AHA! Well... I have not a clue about APA :) There's nothing on http://www.apastyle.org/ ??

[towsonu2003]

So she wants everything double spaced. What program are you using to type it?
nope, not double spaced. one space between words (not paragraphs) if within a sentence, two spaces between the end of the sentence (dot) and the first word of the new sentence... as in "Bla[1]bla[1]bla[1].[2]bla[1]bla[1]bla." [1] and [2] is the number of times you hit the space bar in your keyboard...

[towsonu2003]

AHA! Well... I have not a clue about APA :) There's nothing on http://www.apastyle.org/ ??
omgomgomg I think I found it!! thanks to your quotation from mla and apa link. I wouldn't be able to come up with the correct keyword without that quotation!!!

Q: In typing class I learned that two spaces always follow a period, but your Publication Manual says one space should follow all punctuation. Why is this?

A: Unlike manual typewriters, word-processing software uses fonts that result in proportional spacing, so additional spacing around periods is no longer necessary. Uniform spacing around punctuation also saves a step in preparing word-processing files for electronic editing. As a publisher, APA does not return manuscripts on the basis of the spacing around punctuation.
That does it! Now let me print this and......

[BoyOfDestiny]

nm, seems everything is resolved. It was the old typewriter ways afterall. :)

[Bandit]

I thought that at first too... What he means is there have to be 2 spaces after every sentence.

This is normal. 'space' More stuff.

This is what she wants. 'space' 'space' More stuff.

Just a matter of find/replace, since it should be whitespace sensetive... No manual editing required...
Yea, so the teacher has room to correct the mistakes and grade the paper. Its very common practice.

Like this:


My car is blue.
space
space
It has chrome wheels..

The option is in OO.o.

Cheers,
Joey

[AirIntake]

Modern day wordprocessors & fonts automatically put more space after a period than between letters. The double space idea came from when all characters, no matter their visual width, all took up the same space width wise (called monofont or something). Notice how if I type lllllllllll, I can fit more characters in the same width than if I type MMMMM, this is because it adjusts the spacing depending on the characters used. My point: If you are on a typewriter, you have to add an extra space after a period. If you are on a computer with Open Office, it automatically does this for you. Don't worry about your advisor, she's just following a rule from 30+ years ago and doesn't know why. Just say you already did add the extra space :)

[BoyOfDestiny]

Yea, so the teacher has room to correct the mistakes and grade the paper. Its very common practice.

Like this:


My car is blue.
space
space
It has chrome wheels..

The option is in OO.o.

Cheers,
Joey

Nope, that's not what his advisor meant. It was in regard to an extra space after periods (due to monospacing). Not about the space between the lines themselves. It's not an issue anymore since word processers make things look nice.

EDIT: NM, Airintake explained it perfectly.

[Bandit]

nope, not double spaced. one space between words (not paragraphs) if within a sentence, two spaces between the end of the sentence (dot) and the first word of the new sentence... as in "Bla[1]bla[1]bla[1].[2]bla[1]bla[1]bla." [1] and [2] is the number of times you hit the space bar in your keyboard...

Ahh,,
Sorry just saw your new post..
I forgot about the ole double space after each period crap from college. Been 6 years ya know...
Damn I hope you havent finished typeing yet.
I got into the habbit of just double tapping the space bar after each sentence.
Took me years to get over that crud..

Cheers,
Joey

[towsonu2003]

Modern day wordprocessors & fonts automatically put more space after a period than between letters. The double space idea came from when all characters, no matter their visual width, all took up the same space width wise (called monofont or something). Notice how if I type lllllllllll, I can fit more characters in the same width than if I type MMMMM, this is because it adjusts the spacing depending on the characters used. My point: If you are on a typewriter, you have to add an extra space after a period. If you are on a computer with Open Office, it automatically does this for you. Don't worry about your advisor, she's just following a rule from 30+ years ago and doesn't know why. Just say you already did add the extra space :)
eheh, if I attempt explain this to her, she'll be like :confused: :confused: . the print out of that text I quoted will be enough. now I should find something in apa that says "tables should not be inserted within the manuscript". let's see.... offf

[Brunellus]

Modern day wordprocessors & fonts automatically put more space after a period than between letters. The double space idea came from when all characters, no matter their visual width, all took up the same space width wise (called monofont or something). Notice how if I type lllllllllll, I can fit more characters in the same width than if I type MMMMM, this is because it adjusts the spacing depending on the characters used. My point: If you are on a typewriter, you have to add an extra space after a period. If you are on a computer with Open Office, it automatically does this for you. Don't worry about your advisor, she's just following a rule from 30+ years ago and doesn't know why. Just say you already did add the extra space :)
except that old people who have not adjusted to this (and me, I should add, even though I'm not old, I learned to type in a monospace output environment--yay dot matrix printers!) know how much a "space" in their wordprocessor is, and count those voids. They know what two spacebar taps look like after a fullstop, and will complain to high holy hell if they don't see the second.

Trust me, I have a boss like that.

[towsonu2003]

Trust me, I have a boss like that.
I'm not sure I could tolerate that in my work environment... I'm already having troubles although I'm almost outta here (graduation that is). hmm, although my problems are more about the country and the school itself, not the advisor per se, so may be I'm not that objective?

[Brunellus]

I'm not sure I could tolerate that in my work environment... I'm already having troubles although I'm almost outta here (graduation that is). hmm, although my problems are more about the country and the school itself, not the advisor per se, so may be I'm not that objective?
which country and what uni?

and you're going to find that there are a lot of old people out there in the workplace. They will tend to be bosses, and will want things done their way, even if their way antedates the technology available to them.

[towsonu2003]

which country and what uni?
and you're going to find that there are a lot of old people out there in the workplace. They will tend to be bosses, and will want things done their way, even if their way antedates the technology available to them.
USA, Towson Uni. Problem w. country is political (too conservative etc); while prob. w. university is political (70% of students white, while 75% of nearby city is black and stuff like that) + I feel it's not a good enough uni. The department is fine, but uni. is not that fine.

As per the bosses, I tend to be fine with people older than me, and they tend to be tolerant with the tech I use as long as I don't try to make them use that tech (for now, that is openoffice). I expect my future bosses to be not so tolerant though...

[polo_step]

Take it from a guy who's been writing manuscripts for publication forever: Two spaces after a full stop.

Always.

It's not optional or "a matter of opinion": You submit a manuscript to anybody real with only one space after a full stop and it will come back to you unread.

One of the most outrageous things about badly-written text editors (such as the one in this BBS program, you'll note) is that they will delete the "extra" space...which proves they were programmed by geeks who have zero knowledge of correct copy formatting -- instead of actual writers.

You're welcome. Glad to help. :)

[Brunellus]

Take it from a guy who's been writing manuscripts for publication forever: Two spaces after a full stop.

Always.

It's not optional or "a matter of opinion": You submit a manuscript to anybody real with only one space after a full stop and it will come back to you unread.

One of the most outrageous things about badly-written text editors (such as the one in this BBS program, you'll note) is that they will delete the "extra" space...which proves they were programmed by geeks who have zero knowledge of correct copy formatting -- instead of actual writers.

You're welcome. Glad to help. :)


copy formatting is not typesetting, however. What has happened is that typesetting and copyformatting have been compressed into a single operation in modern word processors. The extra space used to be necessary on monospaced types, but is not necessary.

I go two spaces after every fullstop, though. It's a habit.

[polo_step]

The extra space used to be necessary on monospaced types, but is not necessary.
It is if you're submitting it for publication or to anyone who deals with manuscripts on a professional basis.

Trust me on this.

[Brunellus]

It is if you're submitting it for publication or to anyone who deals with manuscripts on a professional basis.

Trust me on this.
must you continue to post in monospace type?

[towsonu2003]

thanks for all the help, but I'm not sure about the point of continued discussion, especially bc. it seems to be going to the wrong place... I found my answer and posted here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=806850&postcount=14 where APA says "we don't care really"... that should be enough for me and anyone using APA for manuscript submissions. It seems MLA (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=806799&postcount=2) has no problems with either way either.
again, thanks for all the help. I would be clueless about how to search for this info otherwise.

[Bandit]

What about if you submit it in brail?? :D