import re


def spaced_merge(l):
    """
    Joins a list of strings together into one string, padding strings with spaces if two strings aren't buffered by a space.
    """
    for i in range(len(l)):
        if i != (len(l) - 1):
            if l[i] != "":
                if (
                    re.search(r" $", l[i]) is None
                    and re.search(r"^[,\.;\"\' ]", l[i + 1]) is None
                ):
                    l[i] = "".join([l[i], " "])
    return "".join(l)