Spaces after full stops. Anyone as old as me?

Three and two; learned in the early sixties, and I do it now without thinking, but I don’t think it matters these days when one is lucky to see any punctuation being used at all! We were taught in school never to start a sentence with “and” or “but”. However, I confess to being guilty, recently, of doing both!

It was three and two when I first started to learn, but then reduced after my first exam. Now, I can’t stop myself putting in two spaces. It’s like breathing in in between sentences.

Double spacing between paragraphs too. And if I’m handwriting I still inset the start of a paragraph.

I am also old school school, two spaces, no sentences starting with a conjunction, and Winston Churchill’s “this is something up with which I will not put” also springs to mind!

I am reminded of a friend whose boss, years ago, wanted it to appear that the company had the latest equipment, but would not pay for it. All correspondence had to be aligned (manually) so that the right hand margin was straight. This could only be down by putting two spaces here and there between words, let alone sentences. Needless to say she didn’t stay there for long.

I thought we'd already had a long conversation on this subject - then I looked at the dates! Someone must have been bored! (Or advertising something)

I did my secretarial training in my sixth year at Grammar School 1953/4 and I learnt the same rules as you Coolgran65 - I must admit I have stopped the indent 5 spaces at new para but it did take me some time to do that.

JackyB you're right - it was someone posting a link to their 'how to' website, about Google docs.

I'm another one who learnt to use 2 spaces at secretarial college and still do. I find it's automatic.
I'd forgotten about the centring! Indenting was beginning to die out when I started work. Another change has been that business letters used to always end in yours faithfully but no-one uses that now.

I did a shorthand/typing course in the late 1970s - it was always two spaces after a full stop and one after a comma

I taught myself to touch-type as a teenager, using books from a course that my mum had done to in the '60s.
It taught two spaces after a full stop and one after a comma, but as far as I remember, that convention had gone by the time I did both typing and computer courses in the '90s, and I haven't used more than one space for either since then.

Recently, I had to write a formal letter to a company rather than an individual and came to a halt when I was about to write "Dear Sirs". I know for a fact that the management team are both male and female. I could not think of a suitable term of address, so simply missed it out, double line spaced and started with "In response to your request........"

What would you have put?

I often do a similar thing nowadays when contacting companies, whether by post, email, or even live web chat, Granny23.

Time has moved on, and many of the old forms of address are so outdated as to be laughable now!

I was taught two spaces after a full stop and one after a comma. Shorthand and typing course 1982.

Like you BladeAnnie I did shorthand and typing at school in the 70's. 2 spaces after a full stop and : 1 space after a , and ;.

Double line space between paragraphs, I still remember how to centre using a manual typewriter; one back space for 2 characters or one character and one space.

A bit like riding a bike, you never forget. I can still do shorthand too, and at the age of 15 was at the time, the youngest in my school ever to pass the exam for 100 wpm
.

It’s pleasing to the eye.

Another change has been that business letters used to always end in yours faithfully
GrandmaMoira I also regret the passing of;
"I am Sir, your most Obedient Servant"
Nothing like a bit of respect, sadly no more!
OoRoo

I never learnt to type or do shorthand but I always leave two spaces between sentences but only one between words or other punctuation marks. I think most people don't know how or when to use colons and semicolons.

I am Sir, your most Obedient Servant
Sorry about that; it should read;
"I remain Sir, your most Obedient Servant"
Conveys more the fact that I've always been your Obedient
Servant and will also continue to be so.

Elegran
I started reading the thread and thought 'oh, jura's back, then realised the date.

Threads often get revived by spammers. They must scour GN for them.

I think that using the formal Dear Sir or Madam at the beginning required Yours Faithfully when signing off, Rufus.

If the correspondence continued or you had spoken to someone on the phone you could then write Dear Mr Rufus and Yours Sincerely.

Whether you meant it or not