Hi, Ardith Hinton! -> Alexander Koryagin
I read your message from 10.09.2021 23:12
If you &/or your quoter prefer not to use the double space, I
accept that when the results are consistent...
It is the specifics of my quoter.
But you generally follow the same pattern in your own writing. :-))
It is only if I turn on the aligning option. For making the text right
margin aligned it is necessary to add some additional spaces. My quoter
add these spaces at first after full stops, commas etc. If it is not
enough additional spaces are added between words too. For instance, here
are two ways of quoting - with aligning and without. At present, I
always use the second variant.
-----Beginning of the citation-----
When HarperCollins first approached me to write the foreword to Sterling's little book, I must admit that I was more than a bit
taken aback. Not quite aghast, but definitely shocked, For one
thing, Sterling has never been much of a reader. In fact, to the
best of my knowledge, the only things he ever read growing up were pornographic comic books (we used to call them "Tijuana bibles,"
but I'm sure that's no longer considered polite, what with all
these immigrants driving around everywhere in their lowriders, listening to raps and shooting all the jobs). So the thought of Sterling writing an actual book? With words? Yes, I was definitely shocked.
When HarperCollins first approached me to write the foreword to
Sterling's little book, I must admit that I was more than a bit
taken aback. Not quite aghast, but definitely shocked, For one
thing, Sterling has never been much of a reader. In fact, to the
best of my knowledge, the only things he ever read growing up were pornographic comic books (we used to call them "Tijuana bibles,"
but I'm sure that's no longer considered polite, what with all
these immigrants driving around everywhere in their lowriders,
listening to raps and shooting all the jobs). So the thought of
Sterling writing an actual book? With words? Yes, I was definitely shocked.
----- The end of the citation -----
<skipped>
In the light of what Wiki has to say about the history of spacing
in English, however, I now realize the tendency to employ single
spacing within & between sentences originated with the advent of mass-market publications.
Although, double spaces don't help if the author uses long sentences.
For instance, look the these two sentence, by Daniel Defoe. Yes, he uses
a double space between his sentences for clarity. ;)
-----Beginning of the citation-----
Author: Daniel Defoe
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE
CHAPTER I--REVISITS ISLAND
That homely proverb, used on so many occasions in England, viz.
"That what is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh," was
never more verified than in the story of my Life. Any one would
think that after thirty-five years' affliction, and a variety of
unhappy circumstances, which few men, if any, ever went through
before, and after near seven years of peace and enjoyment in the
fulness of all things; grown old, and when, if ever, it might be
allowed me to have had experience of every state of middle life,
and to know which was most adapted to make a man completely happy;
I say, after all this, any one would have thought that the native
propensity to rambling which I gave an account of in my first
setting out in the world to have been so predominant in my
thoughts, should be worn out, and I might, at sixty one years of
age, have been a little inclined to stay at home, and have done
venturing life and fortune any more.
----- The end of the citation -----
I remember you like to write your messages in the formatted form
with the aligned right margin.
I align the right margin for various reasons, one of which is that
I don't want the computer to muck around with my spacing. I've
learned over the years that when I fill every line my software
won't try to improve on it. But of course I have no control over
what other people's software will do....: - Q
It means the text alignment is turned on in your editor.
No, it means I'm an old schoolteacher for whom readability is of
far more importance than what's au courant or what others might do
to save a buck. When I look at material intended for beginning
readers I notice the spacing is consistent but the right margin is variable. In such cases the paragraphs are usually very short. At
some point I gather more fluent readers may prefer the right
margins to be consistent, even at the expense of consistency in
spacing.
Probably it is a good idea to do things as the majority does them. I
mean those people whom you are writing to. ;) Although, aligned right
margin looks nice anyway.
Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2021
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