In January 2011, Farhad Manjoo, technology writer for Slate, called out modern society for the rampant use of double spaces after periods, and he really shook things up. Grammarians all over the country shuddered that someone would dare to correct the way we've been writing our whole lives! Manjoo declares that using two spaces after periods is the result of typewriters and their shortcomings, but that all modern typographers and even MLA (Modern Language Association Style Manual) and the Chicago Manual of Style declare that only a single space is correct.
Listed below is the article; check out some of the reactions described by Manjoo. Who would think that such ire and passion could be derived from a topic such as grammar and typography?!
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html
As the daughter of an English teacher, I definitely consider myself a grammarian, and as a modernist, I dislike participating in traditions just because it's always been done that way - I'm always the person in search the most current and productive technologies, trends, and gadgets. I immediately bristled when first hearing about this double spacing debate... So over the last year, I have been working to eliminate my habit of double spacing after periods. Sometimes I'm successful and sometimes I am not; I use the backspace button a lot to fix the habit I picked up in Typing 1 at Kingwood Middle School. (I think that Manjoo was right - double spaces are typewriter-driven, and when was the last time any of us used a typewriter?!)
And by the way, with my declaration of being a grammarian, please don't judge me if and when I make typos and grammatical mistakes on this blog. I isn't perfect!
Miss Recruiter
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