Re: [Groff] [Heirloom] Double word space after :

[Carsten Kunze]

"James K. Lowden" <address@hidden> wrote:

> It is not incorrect.  Typographical convention has varied over time and
> treatment of the colon along with it.  So, "correct" is hard to pin
> down.  
> 
> I was taught 500 moons ago that a colon may be followed by one or two
> spaces depending on purpose.  Examples:  
> 
> 1.    There is only one thing to fear: fear itself.  
> 2.    Proceed as follows:  First, assume a can opener.  

Also that is new to me....

> The troff behavior would seem to support that notion.  If the
> succeeding clause is independent, put it on a different line and let
> troff treat it as end-of-sentence.  If it's not, leave it in the
> running text and let troff treat as end-of-word. 

Ok, thanks!

> P.S. What is the German practice?

In German one space is used between words and after . ! ? : ,
That "French spacing" can be configured with the second argument of the .ss 
request.

Carsten