The text in this paragraph contains a span element that has been given right and left padding, plus a border and background, which all cause some interesting effects. The extra space you see at the beginning of the first slice and the end of the last slice of the span are to be expected.

The text in this paragraph contains a span element that has been given right and left padding, plus a border and background, which all cause some interesting effects. The extra space you see at the beginning and end of each clone of the span are to be expected.