Spaces after full stops. Anyone as old as me?

I can still hear my English teacher saying about the use of commas

“When in doubt, leave it out”.

Nothing to do with OP really but.....

I'd forgotten indenting. I don't do that now!

Ariadne:said once that we are grown up to make our own rules now and we can decide to start sentences with 'And'. I do it quite a lot now.

Hi, Ariadne, if you are around.

In primary school, we were taught that "and, so, but and because are joining words" as you say, and that therefore should not be used to start a sentence. It was a "rule" that was brought in to help small people structure their sentences I believe.

Later I was taught that, in order not to fragment sentences, you are better not using subordinating conjunctions. 'And', 'but', and conjunctions such as 'or' do not subordinate the clauses but words such as 'because' fairly obviously subordinate the clause they refer to. For all I know, those whose degree was English may have learnt yet other rules.

All in all, I wouldn't worry about it unless you are writing something official. Write as you want to write; lots of brilliant authors do exactly that. Also, you will find that for every opinion there will be a dozen others. It is clarity that is needed. My bugbear is people not using paragraphs as they help the speed of my reading. But in truth, the world will not come to an end because they don't and they may have something fascinating to say.

My mother learned to type in thee 1930s and always did 3 spaces after a full stop. I learned in the 1970s and it had reduced to 2 spaces by then. I couldn't do it any other way - as someone said - it's like breathing.

Also my mother leaned Greggs shorthand (which she could still read and write until recently) and I learned Pitmans.

Did you know that the Vogons wrote in Pitmans in the Martin Freeman film version of "The Hitchhikers Guide"?

Have just notice that there is only one space after my full stops in that previous post. Probably because I am typing with my index fingers on the screen of my tablet. My thumbs are programmed to do two spaces but not my fingers!

Also we learned not to use full stops and commas in addresses and after "Dear Sir" but we were aware that this was the "new" way of doing things.

Yes, JackyB, that was the ‘new’ way.

My mum, a shorthand and typing teacher, taught me to type in the sixties, and it was definitely two spaces after a full stop then.

Yes I remember and indenting 5 spaces for a new paragraph

I was taught typing in 1974, 2 spaces after full stop. It was dropped when we stopped using typewriters.

I agree, 3 spaces at end of sentence...

so, and , then , but , because, no -no`s for starting a sentence

so when did this f word become popular,, not in this thread, I agree, but that is my pet rant!

and when should we use, "who" or " whom"

the latter is so.... victorian,,,

Gosh! Nver learned to type. Never knew this.

Always two spaces after a full stop. I am appalled at some of the grammar I have received in letters. It seems some schools are still teaching two spaces. I asked my DGD, aged 7. She said they are taught to use two spaces after a full stop and added commas before a subordinate conjunction. I don't think I even knew what that was at 7.

two spaces after a full stop and a colon - one space after everything else. still do it.
but i've stopped doing capital letters except in business correspondence - so much easier.
taught typewriting and shorthand in the 60s - still use shorthand today.

I was taught in the 60s to put two spaces after a full stop and still do. In my last job a memo was sent out to say only one space must be used after a full stop. I found it really difficult to remember and have reverted back now I’ve retired.

I was taught to put 2 spaces after a full stop and still do. Personally, I'm more concerned about him demanding imperial measurements. Do people under 50 know how to use them, I struggle with them now and I'm 70. Perhaps he wants us to go back to £SD too.

Nice to know Rees Mogg has his priorities right....

I thought typing in an FE college and at the time you were marked down in RSA typing exams if you didn’t leave 2 spaces after a full stop. However with computers and justified text 2 spaces can look odd now - though I still do it.

Taught not thought!

Kittylester I was taught to put two spaces after a full stop in typing lessons at school, and still follow that rule, but when computers took over at work and managers started to do some, or all of their own typing, they would sometimes not even put one space.

I was taught 2 spaces after full stop. I still do. I am 68.

I was taught to go in 5 spaces at the beginning of a paragraph. Then I went to work for the army and this was considered old fashioned. I also remember doing something like this at the bottom of a document oo00oo

I learned to type at college in the evenings, and the rule was two spaces after a full stop, and one after a comma.

I was a secretary and so learnt shorthand and typing in the early 70s. We were taught one space after comma, two spaces after a full stop. I find the grammar and spelling nowadays appalling, especially on social media or emails. And, whilst I know some people have difficulty with both, I also think many people are just too lazy to bother. I know plenty well educated, literate, people who send emails that are difficult to follow because they just haven't bothered to use any punctuation.

I also learned to type in the 60s and was taught 2 spaces after a full stop, one space after a comma, I still do it that way. I can't remember the rule for colons. I often find when typing online that double spaces are automatically reduced to one space. It just looks wrong to me. A big part of our typing lessons was the correct setting out of documents - line spacing paragraphing, layout etc. Even today my children often ask me to edit or draft letters for them because I just make them look better. I think it's sad that so many of these traditions are being lost to speed and technology.

I'd forgotten about indenting, always double space for paragraphs and always do 2 spaces after a full stop, even in texts, I can't not do it.