One Or Two Spaces?
I occasionally watch Epic Rap Battles on YouTube. They are funny musical debates between two (acted) prominent figures on a historical subject. Here is a battle between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla about electricity:
I wish they would have an epic rap battle between William Shakespeare and Ernest Hemingway about whether to use one or two spaces after the period and whether to use single- or double-spacing. While this topic seems simple, there is more than enough history and controversy to form an Epic Rap Battle.
So… where did double spaces come from? The popular answer is that newspapers and books used to have poor printing technology. This meant it was difficult to see the period, and lines of print often ran into each other because the text was not always parallel. Thus, two techniques were invented to compensate for the printing issues. Over time, people wasted a tiny amount of paper by adding an extra space. They wasted even more paper by increasing the vertical spacing between sentences.
As a result, my teachers taught me to add two spaces after each period when using a typewriter. All these years later, a sentence does not look correct unless there are two spaces after each period. However, the entire fiction of the period is, “You have completed a thought. Stop typing and move on to the next sentence.”
The same is true for double-spacing. I was taught that this technique is used to distinguish a document, so it “looks important.” Thus, when I encounter a double-spaced document, I need to take it seriously, while a single-spaced document “looks casual.”
And I cannot get beyond this mindset. My spacebar automatically puts two spaces after a period, no matter how hard I try not to. And no matter what, a double-spaced document looks more important. I cannot help myself.
Well, society and computers have moved beyond double spaces. Paper is expensive, and digital bits take up hard drive space. In theory, I agree, but my space bar does not.
How can we end this Epic Rap Battle? That’s easy. I will give myself a magic wand. I am going to wave it around to place a spell on everybody. Saving paper is where we should focus our writing energy. Poof! Umm, there’s a problem. That magic wand needs to blast my mind first because double spaces still look proper. And so do two spaces after a period. There, I did it again.
You’re the best -Bill
September 29, 2021 Updated February 21, 2026
So… where did double spaces come from? The popular answer is that newspapers and books used to have poor printing technology. This meant it was difficult to see the period, and lines of print often ran into each other because the text was not always parallel. Thus, two techniques were invented to compensate for the printing issues. Over time, people wasted a tiny amount of paper by adding an extra space. They wasted even more paper by increasing the vertical spacing between sentences.
As a result, my teachers taught me to add two spaces after each period when using a typewriter. All these years later, a sentence does not look correct unless there are two spaces after each period. However, the entire fiction of the period is, “You have completed a thought. Stop typing and move on to the next sentence.”
The same is true for double-spacing. I was taught that this technique is used to distinguish a document, so it “looks important.” Thus, when I encounter a double-spaced document, I need to take it seriously, while a single-spaced document “looks casual.”
And I cannot get beyond this mindset. My spacebar automatically puts two spaces after a period, no matter how hard I try not to. And no matter what, a double-spaced document looks more important. I cannot help myself.
Well, society and computers have moved beyond double spaces. Paper is expensive, and digital bits take up hard drive space. In theory, I agree, but my space bar does not.
How can we end this Epic Rap Battle? That’s easy. I will give myself a magic wand. I am going to wave it around to place a spell on everybody. Saving paper is where we should focus our writing energy. Poof! Umm, there’s a problem. That magic wand needs to blast my mind first because double spaces still look proper. And so do two spaces after a period. There, I did it again.
You’re the best -Bill
September 29, 2021 Updated February 21, 2026
