Tecknomage mumbled the following on 07/01/2006 19:24:
> It seem that the originators of HTML flunked English Composition.
HTML is not designed to *just* markup English you know...
> You
> _double_ space after colons (":") and at end of a sentence (this is
> how you tell the difference between abbreviations (like etc.) and the
> end of a sentence.
These gramatical rules aren't fixed, especially when considered in
different languages (and that may include English (US) vs English (UK).
As evidence, there's nationally (UK) recognised IT courses that would
count 2 spaces after a full stop to be a mistake. Consequentially, as
HTML was written very much for more than just English (any), it's easier
to eliminate extra white space, and allow the author to add it in as
(s)he sees fit. Besides, without extra markup, how would the HTML-parser
know whether the full stop/period character was being used for an
abbreviation or as the end of a sentence?
The origin of using double spaces after the end of sentences comes from
using typewriters, with their fixed-width fonts. You may like to read
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_stop#Spacing_after_full_stop>.
As it
makes clear, for most people and situations, using a single space is now
the accepted norm.
> So, anyone, what is the extra space tag?
In answer to your problem, use the non-breaking space character entity
--
Gazza
Mobile Number Network Checker - http://mnnc.net/
Leovanna Leonbergers - http://leovanna.co.uk/
Scarlet Town - http://scarlettown.co.uk/


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