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At my last job, a bunch of the older folks did not realize they had a "two spaces" habit.

It's a clear tell.

Saw this meme and thought I'd point that out.

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[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 98 points 2 months ago

I love how this implies that all of us in the over 40 crowd are desperately trying to avoid “tells” about our age.

“OH GOD PLEASE LET THEM THINK IM 28!!! I’LL NEVER DOUBLE SPACE AGAIN!!! NO CAP I’M THE FIRE GOAT!! BET.”

[-] Donkter@lemmy.world 27 points 2 months ago

That's gen z language. You should have called yourself the skibidi rizzler.

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[-] monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago

fr fr on god

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[-] DharkStare@lemmy.world 92 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The "two spaces" habit is because that was proper typing etiquette back in the day. You would lose points on on submitted papers if you didn't do that. I still do th two spaces when typing on a computer but use a single space on my phone.

[-] MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io 34 points 2 months ago

What’s funny is I finish my sentences with two spaces on my phone because that is the shortcut for a period and a space.

[-] Nougat@fedia.io 23 points 2 months ago

Yeah, I think this is more of an "over 50" thing. Someone who's 40 today would have been born in 1984. That would have had them graduating high school in ~2002 - well into the computer age and not ever having to do anything on a typewriter.

[-] gibmiser@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago

I'm 38 and I do it despite knowing it annoys people. It's just how I learned to type. Idgaf

[-] legion02@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago

The MLA guidelines didn't change until 2019.

[-] cowboydiplomat@startrek.website 21 points 2 months ago

I’m 35 and I learned two spaces in school growing up :shrug:

Then later I learned it had changed so I stopped doing it. :double shrug:

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[-] essell@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I'm mid 40s and was taught the double space practice, I guess it depends on when you first learned this stuff, it was very uneven teaching back then

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[-] elbucho@lemmy.world 73 points 2 months ago

I realize that I have a "two spaces" habit. I have no problem with it. I find the fact that you are so bothered by an extra space after the period to be bizarre.

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[-] TheAlbatross 60 points 2 months ago

I do this. I'm under 40. It looks nicer.

[-] silverchase@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 months ago

Too bad for you that HTML collapses all repeated whitespace, so double spacing after a period on the web does actual nothing.

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Not true. Whitespace in html is broken. It works or doesn't work based on inconsistent rules about what is considered "significant".

"Typically, spaces which are visible to the user are referred to as significant, while spaces which are not rendered are considered insignificant. "

https://blog.dwac.dev/posts/html-whitespace/#:~:text=Beyond%20single%20spaces%2C%20HTML%20is,same%20as%20having%20one%20space.

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[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

It looks nicer on paper.

Looks like ass on a screen.

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[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 49 points 2 months ago

If you fucking illiterate children are going to murder language with "u" and "ur", I'll put two spaces after the period, which is the right goddamn way to format anyway.

[-] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 2 months ago

The double spaces is a holdout from the age of typewriters, where spaces were all the same size. Modern fonts (non-monospaced anyway) already have different spacing between words compared to the spacing after a period.

If “ur” and “u” don’t belong in normal communication, neither does two spaces after a period.

[-] desktop_user 10 points 2 months ago

Monospaced font is great though.

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[-] kerrypacker@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

Yep it looks and reads better than a single space.

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[-] metallic_substance@lemmy.world 40 points 2 months ago

Who legitimately cares about this?

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[-] Montagge@lemmy.zip 37 points 2 months ago

And I'm going to keep doing it. Fight me.

[-] HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 27 points 2 months ago

No thanks, I want to improve the readability of my work.

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[-] False@lemmy.world 27 points 2 months ago
[-] giacomo@lemm.ee 15 points 2 months ago
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[-] KingOfTheCouch@lemmy.ca 25 points 2 months ago

What. A. Weird. Thing. To be annoyed. By.

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[-] hoch@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

It appears you've triggered the elderly

[-] itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 months ago

We've triggered the kids with spaces. SPACES

[-] ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago

Kids want all the spaces to be safe, except for the spaces spaces. Fuck those safe spaces spaces.

[-] kubica@fedia.io 24 points 2 months ago

2 spaces? Bullshit, I put 1 tab.

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[-] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 23 points 2 months ago

Two spaces after a period was the way typography was taught and graded through the late nineties and maybe later. On a keyboard my thumb automatically double taps the space bar after a period. No thought, just reflex. On a phone, I never type a period. My keyboard app automatically inserts a period after a double space.

[-] Jikiya@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago

I will not stop. And whining about it will make me double down.

[-] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 months ago
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[-] giacomo@lemm.ee 20 points 2 months ago

no, i dont think i will.

[-] Smoogs@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

If this is bugging you you deserve to be annoyed._ You're looking for reasons to be miserable._. You’re doing it to yourself. _ You give your power away to easily.

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[-] ClipperDefiance@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

Understood. I will use three spaces from now on.

[-] Hello_there@fedia.io 19 points 2 months ago

It was designed to stop typewriters from sticking. They taught the habit to me on a IBM computer. It is irrational, but so is life.

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[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

Watch me write fuck you in cursive.

[-] sakodak@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago

I use two spaces and you are all "no cap fr fr skibidi Ohio fam."

Fuck off.

[-] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago

What does my Oxford Comma use say about me?

[-] SkyNTP@lemmy.ml 18 points 2 months ago

That you aren't uncultured swine. Or at least that you are considerate enough to put in the effort to make the task of reading your posts as painless as possible.

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[-] Kichae@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 months ago

Imagine publically outing yourself as an agist POS with impulse control issues and an inability to rank issues worth talking about in any kind of sane manner.

[-] leadore@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Very interesting.   I hadn't noticed that before.   Something to consider.   I'll keep an eye out for that. /s

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[-] i_dont_want_to 11 points 2 months ago

Is this from that Oatmeal guy? He's always seemed very easily annoyed.

[-] lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

I'm over 40. I do what I want.

[-] PoscoBumbleroot@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

33 here and this is how I was taught

[-] orcrist@lemm.ee 10 points 2 months ago

You're entitled to your opinion. Congratulations.

[-] Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

OP, this is a genuinely sent post on literally the first day of a new year. I want you to ask yourself something:

Does being bothered by this bring you any form of joy or happiness?

Does being bothered by this bring you any form of stress?

If the later is more true than the former, maybe you should think about that. You're taking time out of your day to be stressed about this thing and if isn't even paying you back in any meaningful way. It took you maybe 10min to make this post? Where would you be if that time was spent doing something you actually like doing instead of trying to bend the world on something so inconsequential as extra spaces?

I don't know if you'll take anything away from this, but of everyone stopped being hung up about things that didn't effect us, we'd all be better off.

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this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2025
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