Should we ever use the semi-colon in our writing? Slate writer Paul Collins probes this question in his article "Has Modern Life Killed the Semi-Colon?" Many think the semi-colon should be heaped into the grammar trash-pile, believing that it serves no good purpose in English writing. In my post "Community or Narcissism" I used three semi-colons. That sort of blatant disregard for proper, graceful prose should send me right to grammar prison. I do admit that I use it, some of the time, out of laziness. Rather than taking the time to bring sentences together creatively, I just smack a semi-colon in the middle of them. And honestly, beyond the supposed improper punctuality, the thing just looks out of place. Is that the best symbol we could come up with?
What do you think? Obviously, all of eternity lies in the balance; answer wisely.
Friday, June 27, 2008
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1 comments:
I, too, use the semicolon, perhaps out of laziness or habit. However, there is one instance where a semicolon is a necessity, and that is to clarify meaning in a sentence where commas are used for other purposes.
An example?
I traveled to Boston, Massachusetts; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; and Ellensburg, Washington.
How else could you distinguish between items in that list?
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