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Usenet Posted 20 years ago
English in UK
Space before ? ! : ;
I note on usenet that there are two conventions about the positioning of punctuation ? ! : and ;
The a majority post "is this correct?"
While a significant minority post "is this correct ?"
IMO this must be that this is a carry over from hand writing.
Does anyone here follow the second convention, and if so where and when were they taught it?
~~
I produce e-books for out of copyright Yorkshire Dialect Books, for = Project
Gutenberg who in thier FAQ suggest.
http://www.gutenberg.org/faq/V-104
The Project Gutenberg FAQ - V-104V.104.=20
My book leaves a space before punctuation like semicolons, question = marks,
exclamation marks and quotes. Should I do the same? No.
If you look closely at these "spaces", you will see that they are not as wide as a normal space they tend to be half to three-quarters as wide. These don't actually represent spaces as such; they were just a = convention
used by typesetters to make the text feel less cramped, and they did not express any specific intent on the part of the author.
OCR software tends to see them as full spaces, and one of the jobs you typically have to do when editing a text that has been OCRed is to remove them.
In some texts, this also happens following an opening quote, so your OCR might read a sentence as:
" Hello ! How are you to-day ? "
which you should correct to:
"Hello! How are you to-day?"
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.net =46or Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/
The a majority post "is this correct?"
While a significant minority post "is this correct ?"
IMO this must be that this is a carry over from hand writing.
Does anyone here follow the second convention, and if so where and when were they taught it?
~~
I produce e-books for out of copyright Yorkshire Dialect Books, for = Project
Gutenberg who in thier FAQ suggest.
http://www.gutenberg.org/faq/V-104
The Project Gutenberg FAQ - V-104V.104.=20
My book leaves a space before punctuation like semicolons, question = marks,
exclamation marks and quotes. Should I do the same? No.
If you look closely at these "spaces", you will see that they are not as wide as a normal space they tend to be half to three-quarters as wide. These don't actually represent spaces as such; they were just a = convention
used by typesetters to make the text feel less cramped, and they did not express any specific intent on the part of the author.
OCR software tends to see them as full spaces, and one of the jobs you typically have to do when editing a text that has been OCRed is to remove them.
In some texts, this also happens following an opening quote, so your OCR might read a sentence as:
" Hello ! How are you to-day ? "
which you should correct to:
"Hello! How are you to-day?"
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.net =46or Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/
Top answer
[nq:1]I note on usenet that there are two conventions about the positioning of punctuation ? : and ; The ... from hand writing.
- [nq:1]I note on usenet that there are two conventions about the positioning of punctuation ?
- : and ; The ...
- from hand writing.
- [/nq] I had this discussion on another group recently.
- I thought it was a US convention to put in the space but in fact, after a check, I realised that it wasn't them but the French who do this.
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13 Answers
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[nq:1]I note on usenet that there are two conventions about the positioning of punctuation ? ! : and ; The ... from hand writing. Does anyone here follow the second convention, and if so where and when were they taught it?[/nq]
I had this discussion on another group recently. I thought it was a US convention to put in the space but in fact, after a check, I realised that it wasn't them but the
I had this discussion on another group recently. I thought it was a US convention to put in the space but in fact, after a check, I realised that it wasn't them but the
00
[nq:2]I note on usenet that there are two conventions about ... and if so where and when were they taught it?[/nq]
[nq:1]I had this discussion on another group recently. I thought it was a US convention to put in the space ... I don't know if other European languages do it also. Personally in Fr or Eng I don't use the space.[/nq]
I noticed recently that the Enid Blyton "Adventure" series,
[nq:1]I had this discussion on another group recently. I thought it was a US convention to put in the space ... I don't know if other European languages do it also. Personally in Fr or Eng I don't use the space.[/nq]
I noticed recently that the Enid Blyton "Adventure" series,
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[nq:2]I had this discussion on another group recently. I thought ... Personally in Fr or Eng I don't use the space.[/nq]
[nq:1]I noticed recently that the Enid Blyton "Adventure" series, first published in Britain by Macmillan from 1944 to 1955, puts a half space before ? and ! marks.[/nq]
That's a trifle imprecise - there are a variety of spaces available to typesetters. Yes, there was an
[nq:1]I noticed recently that the Enid Blyton "Adventure" series, first published in Britain by Macmillan from 1944 to 1955, puts a half space before ? and ! marks.[/nq]
That's a trifle imprecise - there are a variety of spaces available to typesetters. Yes, there was an
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At 11:12:04 on Sat, 14 Jan 2006, John Briggs (Email Removed) wrote in :
[nq:1]Similarly, there used to be conventions for (non-proportional) typewriters. I usually put two spaces after a full-stop and question mark ... - but there used to be a convention of three spaces after a full stop and two after comma, etc.[/nq]
I was taught to put three after a full stop, question mark or exclamatio
[nq:1]Similarly, there used to be conventions for (non-proportional) typewriters. I usually put two spaces after a full-stop and question mark ... - but there used to be a convention of three spaces after a full stop and two after comma, etc.[/nq]
I was taught to put three after a full stop, question mark or exclamatio
00
[nq:2]Similarly, there used to be conventions for (non-proportional) typewriters. I ... spaces after a full stop and two after comma, etc.[/nq]
[nq:1]I was taught to put three after a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark; two after a colon or ... think it adds greatly to the readability of the text. Many people have no idea of the importance of whitespace![/nq]
I think that is real
[nq:1]I was taught to put three after a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark; two after a colon or ... think it adds greatly to the readability of the text. Many people have no idea of the importance of whitespace![/nq]
I think that is real
00
[nq:2]Similarly, there used to be conventions for (non-proportional) typewriters. Iusually ... spaces after a full stop and two after comma, etc.[/nq]
[nq:1]I was taught to put three after a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark; two after a colon or semi-colon; and one after any other piece of punctuation.[/nq]
Wasn't that Pitman Training?
[nq:1]These days I've cut the three do
[nq:1]I was taught to put three after a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark; two after a colon or semi-colon; and one after any other piece of punctuation.[/nq]
Wasn't that Pitman Training?
[nq:1]These days I've cut the three do
00
[nq:1]Wasn't that Pitman Training?[/nq]
That might well be what I was looking for! If Pitman once taught that = one
should put a space before ! ? : and ; it would explain why that = convention
is widespread.=20
Has anyone got more information on this?
=20
Dave Fawthrop
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg!
That might well be what I was looking for! If Pitman once taught that = one
should put a space before ! ? : and ; it would explain why that = convention
is widespread.=20
Has anyone got more information on this?
=20
Dave Fawthrop
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg!
00
[nq:2]Wasn't that Pitman Training?[/nq]
[nq:1]That might well be what I was looking for! If Pitman once taught thatone should put a space before ! ? : and ; it would explain why that convention is widespread.[/nq]
I meant that Pitman taught that the end of a sentence should be followed by 3 spaces, BICBW.
[nq:1]That might well be what I was looking for! If Pitman once taught thatone should put a space before ! ? : and ; it would explain why that convention is widespread.[/nq]
I meant that Pitman taught that the end of a sentence should be followed by 3 spaces, BICBW.
00
[nq:2]That might well be what I was looking for! If Pitman once taught =that[/nq]
[nq:1]one[/nq]
[nq:2]should put a space before ! ? : and ; it would explain why that =convention is widespread.[/nq]
[nq:1]I meant that Pitman taught that the end of a sentence should be followed by 3 spaces, BICBW.[/nq]
Yes but Pitman might have had other standards which might fit the bill. I am in d
[nq:1]one[/nq]
[nq:2]should put a space before ! ? : and ; it would explain why that =convention is widespread.[/nq]
[nq:1]I meant that Pitman taught that the end of a sentence should be followed by 3 spaces, BICBW.[/nq]
Yes but Pitman might have had other standards which might fit the bill. I am in d
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At 09:14:27 on Mon, 16 Jan 2006, Nick Wagg (Email Removed) wrote in :
[nq:2]I was taught to put three after a full stop, ... or semi-colon; and one after any other piece of punctuation.[/nq]
[nq:1]Wasn't that Pitman Training?[/nq]
Yes, it was - well, sort-of; it was the typing training which one got alongside training in Pitman shorthand.
Molly Mockford
They that can give
[nq:2]I was taught to put three after a full stop, ... or semi-colon; and one after any other piece of punctuation.[/nq]
[nq:1]Wasn't that Pitman Training?[/nq]
Yes, it was - well, sort-of; it was the typing training which one got alongside training in Pitman shorthand.
Molly Mockford
They that can give
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