For changing the spacing after a sentence.
MLA stands for Modern Language Association. If you are unfamiliar with it, perhaps you are illiterate. Anyway, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is an academic documentation style guide widely used in the United States and Canada. The updated version of the handbook redefines the proper spacing required at the end of a sentence. The rules have changed since the day of the typewriter; we are no longer required to have two spaces after a sentence.
What can I say, old habits die hard. I still struggle with single spacing daily. My hand just wants to hit that long bar twice after a sentence ends. Some people think the extra space is worse than having a front tooth missing from a person’s smile. Apparently, the gap after a period is already accounted for with the “kerning” (which is just a fancy way of saying “spacing”). The extra distance used to make sense when every character took up an equal amount of space. Now all current word processing software automatically adjusts for the extra bit after a period.
To be honest, it was easier for me to quit smoking than to consistently add just one thumb tap after a period.
Mostly, it’s die-hard writers and publishers who want to follow the most current rules that create the dilemma. The MLA Handbook states that either one or two spaces are acceptable. I say, let’s keep it the old way out of respect! And, quite frankly, if you noticed how many spaces I have been using thus far, you are probably not paying attention to what I am writing anyway!
I think the whole thing is a big waste of time. We should never have changed the rule in the first place. Two spaces after a sentence makes the text more readable anyway. So from here on out, I will be double-spacing just because it looks cooler. Boo-ya, MLA! I am going medieval typewriter on your ass. (Just kidding—my editor won’t let me do that.)