This is a post about something you can't normally see. But that doesn't mean it isn't happening. A number of you are responsible for making it happen when you leave a comment. Again, nobody sees what you're doing. But I can see it, lurking underneath the surface. I've made the same thing happen throughout today's post. I had to force it, otherwise it wouldn't be there. I wonder if you've noticed what it is yet. More to the point, I wonder if you know why it's happening.
Here's an example from a comment left on the blog yesterday. It's the double space.
Ah, thanks for Campbell’s law. I was trying to recall...
That's what was typed, but it's not what you'd have seen. You'd have seen this.
Ah, thanks for Campbell’s law. I was trying to recall...
Web browsers automatically suppress additional spaces so, even if you type two, only one will appear.
Here are another dozen examples of double spaces in comments you've left in the last week.
I've had to tweak the coding underneath so that the extra spaces appear.
» which hasn't been around for a while. But as DG says...
» in a BBC TV interview yesterday morning. To paraphrase...
» similar to post-apocalyptic sci-fi novels. Beautifully written...
» and almost bleak. Development doesn't have to look like this.
» not residents. That means no stable population will build up...
» mirrors plus the USB ports. Think they must now be standard...
» but there's nothing else there. Far nicer is the town of Nantwich...
» for a commemorative plaque. You can see them and some other...
» the zig-zag shape of the roofs on part of the mill site. Not far away...
» in celebration of a random anniversary. I have listened occasionally since ...
» no longer available from merchants. You should deposit any remaining notes...
» customary holidays under common law). Some are on dates that move around...
You are of course perfectly within your rights to leave a double space after a full stop in a comment, not least because nobody else will see it. Elsewhere culture wars rage, for example in pdfs and printed documentation, with the general consensus that a single space is correct and a double space is wrong. As of a few weeks ago, even Microsoft Word undersquiggles a double space as a grammatical error. But 'twas not always thus.
Double spaces were being used in typesetting as far back as the 18th century, and in Victorian times would have been the norm. They really came into their own with the typewriter, where the use of a monospaced typeface necessitated more of a gap.
On a typewriter one space isn't optimum. Two is better.
On a typewriter one space isn't optimum. Two is better.
I'm guessing that a lot of my readers learned to type before computer keyboards were invented, so are transferring rules applied on one technology to another. Once double-spacing is hardwired into your fingers, it's hard to stop. If you're one of those doing this, is that why?
But something else may be going on, as these next examples show.
» which line has lost the most services ?
» do you mean a Farrier rather than a Smith ?
» I dont understand the logic personally , if you kept on...
» The Honest Sausage ?? then what's a dishonest sausage...
» Sevenoaks is quite feasible ! Walk or wobble on a Boris bike...
These are from commenters adding a space before a punctuation mark, which to my eyes is perverse, but you may have your reasons. Smartphones often add a space after you've typed a word, for example (but not normally if the next thing you type is punctuation).
This commenter even managed to add three spaces between sentences. Not just once but repeatedly.
» with no "additional time off". So if Xmas day is a Sunday...
» you're back to work on Monday, etc. This seems a good solution as...
Whether your extra spaces are going in automatically, out of habit or because you believe them to be correct, I'm just interested to understand why. Especially because, normally, they go entirely unseen.
