macropod,
Your comment is not a solution. I am sure seortm knows that and the point is they shouldn't have to do all that. You should be able to select just the text you want without Microsoft hijacking your selection. I don't know how to turn off the idiotic forced selection of the space after the word, but you can turn off "select whole word". Go here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/287911
Under "Edit" further down the page:
Edit
The Edit options are as follows:
Typing replaces selection
When selecting, automatically select entire word
Use smart cut and paste
Tabs and backspace set left indent
To control these options in Word 2001 for Macintosh, click Preferences on the Edit menu, click the Edit tab, and then click to clear the check box for each option that you want to turn off. To control these options in Word X for Mac and in Word 2004 for Mac, click Preferences on the Word menu, click the Edit tab, and then click to clear the check box for each option that you want to turn off.
General