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Is 2 spaces after a period the standard for legal writing?

...
Sooty anal church
  08/21/05
I thought it was the standard for everythign?
Floppy Abnormal Native
  08/21/05
Apparently, it isn't. In fact, I see one space most places.
Sooty anal church
  08/21/05
I always use two because that's what we were taught in typin...
Floppy Abnormal Native
  08/21/05
This is what I thought.
Passionate whorehouse
  08/22/05
Depends on the professor/partner. I always use 2, unless to...
Ungodly translucent pocket flask
  08/21/05
Everywhere? Or just for legal writing?
Sooty anal church
  08/21/05
Yes. Formal papers
onyx startling trailer park
  08/21/05
I'm sorry. Are you using a TYPEWRITER? Didn't think so.
Clear feces
  08/21/05
It seems like the correct way should either be two spaces or...
pearly business firm
  08/21/05
wtf are you talking about?
Splenetic ladyboy
  08/21/05
my head just exploded.
exciting mustard stock car
  08/21/05
Is there a BLUEBOOK or ALWD rule on this? Anyone know?
French zombie-like mad-dog skullcap telephone
  08/21/05
No bluebook or ALWD as far as I know. also never seen court...
Lake cuckold resort
  08/21/05
Most legal writing classes encourage using a style manual al...
Free-loading elastic band
  08/21/05
This is wrong. The most commonly used style manual in legal...
shivering lodge french chef
  08/22/05
1 is, per the BB and the CMS.
adventurous topaz ticket booth tattoo
  08/21/05
Where in the BB? I assume BB = Bluebook.
Sooty anal church
  08/21/05
Yea.
adventurous topaz ticket booth tattoo
  08/21/05
On EVERY PAGE of the BB. Seriously. Open it. Look for a...
shivering lodge french chef
  08/22/05
Why would you use two spaces? Every word processing program ...
Mahogany dragon idea he suggested
  08/21/05
2 spaces is not unheard of.
crystalline insecure senate
  08/21/05
I've seen people use it and it always looks terrible. It's a...
Mahogany dragon idea he suggested
  08/21/05
Okay, in my job, at a big NYC bank, when we wrote up contrac...
Floppy Abnormal Native
  08/21/05
I'm sure there are times where a period doesn't indicate the...
pearly business firm
  08/21/05
kill youself for asking this.
Walnut pozpig
  08/21/05
I decline to. But if I were you, I would definitely off mys...
Sooty anal church
  08/21/05
Word gives you a little green squiggle if you don't use two ...
Crawly Insane Property Queen Of The Night
  08/21/05
No, it only does that if you have it set to require two spac...
Charismatic people who are hurt
  08/21/05
I didn't set my Word that way, and it requires two spaces.
Floppy Abnormal Native
  08/21/05
It may not come standard, but you can set it to require one ...
Charismatic people who are hurt
  08/21/05
Its the default.
Crawly Insane Property Queen Of The Night
  08/21/05
Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's mandatory. If you fiddle wi...
Charismatic people who are hurt
  08/21/05
Your comment made me laugh. That would be funny if MSWord m...
Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret
  08/21/05
Yeah, but I took the original post on this subject to be an ...
Charismatic people who are hurt
  08/21/05
No, no, I didn't mean you did anything wrong. I agreed with...
Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret
  08/21/05
Okay, I misinterpreted your post.
Charismatic people who are hurt
  08/21/05
Why are you shivering?
Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret
  08/21/05
It's set that way be default. Indeed, it only *doesn't* do ...
Free-loading elastic band
  08/21/05
That is a holdover from when people first switched to word p...
Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret
  08/21/05
Two spaces after the period has always been standard and is ...
cracking purple kitchen
  08/21/05
agreed.
Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret
  08/21/05
I'm used to it, so I still do it. If I had to, it'd be a lo...
Black galvanic hell messiness
  08/21/05
I'm surprised so many people seem to adhere to this outdated...
Mahogany dragon idea he suggested
  08/21/05
Um, HTML displays multiple spaces as just one space. In fac...
Black galvanic hell messiness
  08/21/05
it's not possible to use 2 spaces on here, so you wouldn't n...
grizzly church building deer antler
  08/21/05
Classic thread on this topic: http://www.xoxohth.com/thre...
Wild Toaster
  08/21/05
What the fuck so there is no standard?
French zombie-like mad-dog skullcap telephone
  08/21/05
nope. Old school texts even have like 5 spaces sometimes. ...
exciting mustard stock car
  08/21/05
My menu at Ruth's Chris had at least four spaces between sen...
Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret
  08/21/05
Do the 2 spaces in between my two front teeth count?
French zombie-like mad-dog skullcap telephone
  08/21/05
I have this old version of Don Quixote from like the 40's. ...
exciting mustard stock car
  08/21/05
Does any one use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Pa...
onyx startling trailer park
  08/21/05
Not I.
French zombie-like mad-dog skullcap telephone
  08/21/05
Apparently, neither do you use a grammar book.
filthy sickened library
  08/21/05
Apparently, you do not use grammar books either. tootles.
House-broken razzle-dazzle psychic
  08/21/05
That's true; I don't. But my sentence looks all right to ...
filthy sickened library
  08/21/05
Your sentence was worse than his.
House-broken razzle-dazzle psychic
  08/21/05
My sentence looks all right to me.
filthy sickened library
  08/21/05
Keep telling yourself that until you believe it.
House-broken razzle-dazzle psychic
  08/22/05
I believe it.
filthy sickened library
  08/22/05
I read in some prominent place (perhaps the Chicago Manual o...
fighting sanctuary mother
  08/22/05
It's pretty clear that most print and electronic media use a...
filthy sickened library
  08/22/05
The Michigan Law Review only uses one space.
provocative liquid oxygen location
  08/22/05
Almost all good law reviews use only one space. This is bec...
shivering lodge french chef
  08/22/05
I thought you clerked in CA. It's 5AM there.
Curious cowardly immigrant space
  08/22/05
wow, it's been hammered into my head for at least 10 years
exhilarant spot chad
  08/22/05


Poast new message in this thread



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:39 PM
Author: Sooty anal church



(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647324)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:40 PM
Author: Floppy Abnormal Native

I thought it was the standard for everythign?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647329)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:41 PM
Author: Sooty anal church

Apparently, it isn't. In fact, I see one space most places.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647345)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:44 PM
Author: Floppy Abnormal Native

I always use two because that's what we were taught in typing class. One space after comma, two after period. I assumed it was like this for all types of formal writing.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647372)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 5:18 AM
Author: Passionate whorehouse

This is what I thought.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3650913)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:40 PM
Author: Ungodly translucent pocket flask

Depends on the professor/partner. I always use 2, unless told otherwise.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647333)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:41 PM
Author: Sooty anal church

Everywhere? Or just for legal writing?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647346)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:14 PM
Author: onyx startling trailer park

Yes. Formal papers

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648729)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:42 PM
Author: Clear feces

I'm sorry. Are you using a TYPEWRITER? Didn't think so.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647353)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:51 PM
Author: pearly business firm

It seems like the correct way should either be two spaces or either one or two spaces, but not one space.

Too many people have two spaces ingrained.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647408)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:13 PM
Author: Splenetic ladyboy

wtf are you talking about?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648277)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:17 PM
Author: exciting mustard stock car

my head just exploded.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648301)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 6:53 PM
Author: French zombie-like mad-dog skullcap telephone

Is there a BLUEBOOK or ALWD rule on this? Anyone know?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647420)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 7:10 PM
Author: Lake cuckold resort

No bluebook or ALWD as far as I know. also never seen court rules that say one or two. two is fine for everything, including legal writing.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647488)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:54 PM
Author: Free-loading elastic band

Most legal writing classes encourage using a style manual along with the Bluebook. As far as I know, all the style manuals say two spaces after a period.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648570)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 7:53 AM
Author: shivering lodge french chef

This is wrong. The most commonly used style manual in legal writing is the Chicago Manual. While it doesn't have a rule one way or the other, the CMOS uses one space after a period, which suggests that you should too. Oh, and the Bluebook does too.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3650973)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 7:53 PM
Author: adventurous topaz ticket booth tattoo

1 is, per the BB and the CMS.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647746)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 7:54 PM
Author: Sooty anal church

Where in the BB? I assume BB = Bluebook.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647756)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 7:57 PM
Author: adventurous topaz ticket booth tattoo

Yea.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647771)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 7:54 AM
Author: shivering lodge french chef

On EVERY PAGE of the BB.

Seriously. Open it. Look for a period. See how many spaces are after the period. There's your answer.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3650974)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 8:21 PM
Author: Mahogany dragon idea he suggested

Why would you use two spaces? Every word processing program from the last 20 years has intelligent spacing built-in. Hit the spacebar one, unless you're using a typewriter or you've been asked specifically to make the document look like strange.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647925)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 8:23 PM
Author: crystalline insecure senate

2 spaces is not unheard of.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647934)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 8:25 PM
Author: Mahogany dragon idea he suggested

I've seen people use it and it always looks terrible. It's a holdover from the typewriter days -- some people don't realize it's not necessary on computer word processors.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647944)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 8:25 PM
Author: Floppy Abnormal Native

Okay, in my job, at a big NYC bank, when we wrote up contracts for our clients, I KNOW we used 2 spaces.

I didn't know people didn't use 2 spaces. As I said above, this is what we were specifically taught in typing class (on a computer, not a typewriter).

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3647946)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:12 PM
Author: pearly business firm

I'm sure there are times where a period doesn't indicate the end of a sentence and two spaces would get rid of that ambiguity.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648267)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:17 PM
Author: Walnut pozpig

kill youself for asking this.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648294)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:23 PM
Author: Sooty anal church

I decline to. But if I were you, I would definitely off myself.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648349)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:27 PM
Author: Crawly Insane Property Queen Of The Night

Word gives you a little green squiggle if you don't use two spaces.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648383)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:39 PM
Author: Charismatic people who are hurt

No, it only does that if you have it set to require two spaces.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648450)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:40 PM
Author: Floppy Abnormal Native

I didn't set my Word that way, and it requires two spaces.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648458)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:41 PM
Author: Charismatic people who are hurt

It may not come standard, but you can set it to require one space and it will give you a green squiggle if there are two.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648471)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:41 PM
Author: Crawly Insane Property Queen Of The Night

Its the default.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648470)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:43 PM
Author: Charismatic people who are hurt

Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's mandatory. If you fiddle with the settings, it asks specifically if you want one space or two. I have it set for one.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648486)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:47 PM
Author: Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret

Your comment made me laugh. That would be funny if MSWord mandated things like this. "If you want to use our program you must always use two spaces after a period and you must never begin a sentence with but or because."

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648521)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:49 PM
Author: Charismatic people who are hurt

Yeah, but I took the original post on this subject to be an argument for two spaces after periods. I'm just saying that you can easily set the program to do something else, so it proves nothing.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648534)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:51 PM
Author: Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret

No, no, I didn't mean you did anything wrong. I agreed with your post. I just thought it raised a very funny point and I thought maybe you had done it on purpose.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648543)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:53 PM
Author: Charismatic people who are hurt

Okay, I misinterpreted your post.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648562)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:53 PM
Author: Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret

Why are you shivering?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648564)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:55 PM
Author: Free-loading elastic band

It's set that way be default. Indeed, it only *doesn't* do that if you change the settings.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648578)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:41 PM
Author: Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret

That is a holdover from when people first switched to word processing software. People were too confused by the apparently sudden need to only space once. You can fix it in your spelling & grammar options, the same place you can choose whether to have a comma before the and in a list (i.e. a bat, a ball, and a glove). I found out about this earlier in the summer and after researching it online, one space appears to be the rule for all normal documents unless, of course, you are actually typing them on a typewriter. As for the contracts at the NYC bank, contracts are sometimes different from normal documents. On the other hand, there is an element of preference. Some people always use full-justified and some people always use left-justified, which is correct?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648474)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:42 PM
Author: cracking purple kitchen

Two spaces after the period has always been standard and is standard for legal writing. HOWEVER, all word processing programs make the space slightly larger after a period, which was intended to eliminate the need to add an extra space. HOWEVER, people were so used to adding two spaces that the practice is still common, which has made the "correct" way to do it impossible to determine.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648477)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:43 PM
Author: Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret

agreed.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648482)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:42 PM
Author: Black galvanic hell messiness

I'm used to it, so I still do it. If I had to, it'd be a lot easier to turn all the double spaces into single ones than the other way around.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648479)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:10 PM
Author: Mahogany dragon idea he suggested

I'm surprised so many people seem to adhere to this outdated convention, yet nobody ever uses two spaces on here. If there really was a "right" way to it or a difference in legibility, why wouldn't people use two spaces in everything they wrote?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648685)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 11:44 PM
Author: Black galvanic hell messiness

Um, HTML displays multiple spaces as just one space. In fact I just used two spaces after that last period. You can see this if you view the source HTML for this page. I'm also not the only person who did this.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649461)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 11:45 PM
Author: grizzly church building deer antler

it's not possible to use 2 spaces on here, so you wouldn't notice even if people were typing them.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649466)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 9:47 PM
Author: Wild Toaster

Classic thread on this topic:

Grammar question

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648525)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:12 PM
Author: French zombie-like mad-dog skullcap telephone

What the fuck so there is no standard?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648708)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:13 PM
Author: exciting mustard stock car

nope. Old school texts even have like 5 spaces sometimes. Its weird.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648719)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:14 PM
Author: Aphrodisiac flickering cruise ship regret

My menu at Ruth's Chris had at least four spaces between sentences.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648722)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:15 PM
Author: French zombie-like mad-dog skullcap telephone

Do the 2 spaces in between my two front teeth count?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648737)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:15 PM
Author: exciting mustard stock car

I have this old version of Don Quixote from like the 40's. Sometimes there will be like 6 spaces inbetween sentences.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648745)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:17 PM
Author: onyx startling trailer park

Does any one use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (5th/6th edition)?

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648762)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 10:18 PM
Author: French zombie-like mad-dog skullcap telephone

Not I.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3648770)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 11:41 PM
Author: filthy sickened library

Apparently, neither do you use a grammar book.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649424)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 11:42 PM
Author: House-broken razzle-dazzle psychic

Apparently, you do not use grammar books either.

tootles.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649438)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 11:43 PM
Author: filthy sickened library

That's true; I don't.

But my sentence looks all right to me.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649452)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 11:47 PM
Author: House-broken razzle-dazzle psychic

Your sentence was worse than his.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649487)



Reply

Date: August 21st, 2005 11:51 PM
Author: filthy sickened library

My sentence looks all right to me.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649521)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 12:00 AM
Author: House-broken razzle-dazzle psychic

Keep telling yourself that until you believe it.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649578)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 12:03 AM
Author: filthy sickened library

I believe it.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649597)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 12:16 AM
Author: fighting sanctuary mother

I read in some prominent place (perhaps the Chicago Manual of Style) that one space is appropriate. Two spaces harken back to the days of typewriters.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649676)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 12:17 AM
Author: filthy sickened library

It's pretty clear that most print and electronic media use at most one full space.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3649680)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 6:47 AM
Author: provocative liquid oxygen location

The Michigan Law Review only uses one space.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3650955)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 7:55 AM
Author: shivering lodge french chef

Almost all good law reviews use only one space. This is because almost all professional publications and presses use only one space.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3650975)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 8:04 AM
Author: Curious cowardly immigrant space

I thought you clerked in CA. It's 5AM there.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3650979)



Reply

Date: August 22nd, 2005 8:23 AM
Author: exhilarant spot chad
Subject: wow, it's been hammered into my head for at least 10 years

for two spaces. i've gone back into documents and added spaces to mine and even others while editing.

(https://xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=244569&forum_id=2#3650984)