Grammar Nazis, Assemble!

[Soup Nazi]

Hey Grammar Nazis, I have a question for you guys about punctuation.  Under what circumstances do I use the semicolon, colon and dash?  It's been bugging me for a while.

-Penguin

NO ALPHABET SOUP FOR YOU! 1 YEAR!

[katanaso]

my favorite is "ect."    ETC.!  ETC.!  it's etcetera!!!      not ectcetera

One that started online is the habit of adding a space before an exclamation point.  Well, thinking about it, it seems that the decline of grammar and spelling is directly related to the growth of the public Internet.

What's really bad is that the mistakes used in casual chat cross over into professional writing or letters.

Have you ever read a cover letter that uses "ect." or a space before an exclamation point?  Or even better, a hand written smiley face!

WTF people!  Don't make "Idiocracy" come true.

[shiv]

One that started online is the habit of adding a space before an exclamation point.  Well, thinking about it, it seems that the decline of grammar and spelling is directly related to the growth of the public Internet.

What's really bad is that the mistakes used in casual chat cross over into professional writing or letters.

Have you ever read a cover letter that uses "ect." or a space before an exclamation point?  Or even better, a hand written smiley face!

WTF people!  Don't make "Idiocracy" come true.

For you older geezers - i.e most of you - you may have to unlearn double-spacing after a period. I was taught to double-space growing up, and it's still correct on a typewriter. But on the Internet, e-mail, Word docs, etc it's unnecessary and generally considered wrong.

http://www.slate.com/id/2281146/

If you're not a typographer or editor it might be considered a matter of style, but once you start noticing it you see how weird it looks.

[katanaso]

For you older geezers - i.e most of you - you may have to unlearn double-spacing after a period. I was taught to double-space growing up, and it's still correct on a typewriter. But on the Internet, e-mail, Word docs, etc it's unnecessary and generally considered wrong.

http://www.slate.com/id/2281146/

If you're not a typographer or editor it might be considered a matter of style, but once you start noticing it you see how weird it looks.

That's interesting, though I saw where it was a matter of style rather than a rule.

But in another link, this seemed very relevant:  "Furthermore, page designers have written in begging me to encourage people to use one space because if you send them a document with two spaces after the periods, they have to go in and take all the extra spaces out."

I'll see if I can do that on the next email that I compose today.

Shiv, read the comments posted on this page as they're pretty interesting.   http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/spaces-period-end-of-sentence.aspx

[shiv]

You can argue it's a style issue. It does seem readable with just the one space though, or at least it is to me.

At work, most of my communication is via e-mail.  The two spaces really stand out now, like they do in this paragraph.  When I see an old e-mail or post of mine the two spaces seem just wrong.

But maybe switching to the single space is like wearing a toupee or dying your hair. You aint fooling anyone, you're still an old fart.

[grizz441]

A semi colon is to never be used; you'll look pretentious to whomever is reading it.

[IrishOne]

A semi colon is to never be used; you'll look pretentious to whomever is reading it.

 

[katanaso]

You can argue it's a style issue. It does seem readable with just the one space though, or at least it is to me.

At work, most of my communication is via e-mail.  The two spaces really stand out now, like they do in this paragraph.  When I see an old e-mail or post of mine the two spaces seem just wrong.

But maybe switching to the single space is like wearing a toupee or dying your hair. You aint fooling anyone, you're still an old fart.

Oh, I'm not debating it, only pointing out what was written.  For me, it's a habit.  I type a period and automatically tap the spacebar twice when I'm typing the next line.  Like in this sentence.  I've been doing it since 1980.

Personally, for reading, one space or two is fine as neither break up the flow.  It's the lack of paragraphs that make something unreadable.

[Dragon]

     Oh, I'm not debating it, only pointing out what was written.  For me, it's a habit.  I type a period and automatically tap the spacebar twice when I'm typing the next line.  Like in this sentence.  I've been doing it since 1980.

     Personally, for reading, one space or two is fine as neither break up the flow.  It's the lack of paragraphs that make something unreadable.

There is always the argument for tabbing the beginning of a paragraph too.   

[Penguin]

I do both of these things, and they make it easier for me to read my own writing.

-Penguin

[ImADot]

Many of the "rules" about spacing go back to the days of fixed-width type, such as from a typewriter and/or typesetting machine. With today's proportional fonts, letters in words are closer together and double-spacing after sentences is no longer needed to mark the boundary between sentences...at least that's my opinion. 

[katanaso]

There is always the argument for tabbing the beginning of a paragraph too.   

Yeah.  Funny that you mention it, because I rarely do that when typing.  I do indent when writing with pen on paper.

[fbWldcat]

The beginning of a paragraph can be shown with either an indentation with the Tab button, or with a space between paragraphs.

Spacing after a period is habit for most people.Let me show you why.There.This is fun, isn't it? DOUBLE spacing isn't needed, no. Spacing in general? Yes.