\documentclass[12pt]{article} \usepackage{xspace} \usepackage{hyperref} \newcommand{\x}{x\xspace} \begin{document} \section{Implicite space: \x world} \section{Explicite spaces: \x\ world \x\space world \x~world} \section{\x.+\x,+\x!+\x?+\x-+\x:+\x;+\x/+last-\x} \makeatletter \section{~|~~|~~~|~~~~|~~~~~|~~~~|~~~|~~|~} \section{\x()(\x) } \section{Italic correction: [\x\/]} \section{::Nothing follows:} \section{} \section{\x} \end{document}