I was so delighted to see this article in the New York Times. I enjoy proper punctuation, and try to use it as best I can; but I especially LOVE LOVE LOVE the semicolon. I think it is the most underrated, underutilized, yet most useful mark in our language. Well, I suppose the period is probably more useful, but the semicolon is just so eloquent and adds flavor to one's writing.
Sadly, people just don't use it! As the article states, "Americans, in particular, prefer shorter sentences without, as style books advise, that distinct division between statements that are closely related but require a separation more prolonged than a conjunction and more emphatic than a comma. ... In terms of punctuation, semicolons signal something New Yorkers rarely do. Frank McCourt, the writer and former English teacher at Stuyvesant High School, describes the semicolon as the yellow traffic light of a 'New York sentence.' In response, most New Yorkers accelerate; they don’t pause to contemplate." I think, really, many people are just afraid of using it incorrectly, so they'd rather not use it at all. It's a strange hybrid of punctuation, and I think people are scared that using it will create a run-on sentence. It's funny, though, because I see it in the exact opposite way. Semicolons can rescue a terrible run-on sentence by breaking it up, or join two very juvenile sentences into one that is more cohesive and developed.
The article also makes reference to an awesome and funny (awesomely funny?) book about grammar and punctuation called "Eats, Shoots & Leaves." I own a copy, so if anyone wants to borrow, let me know.
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