Comments on: The Semicolon: Thumbs Up, or Down?

By: Ric Booth

Ric Booth — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:56:16 +0000

I think the problem is poor-naming. From my analytical mind, semicolon is ½ of a colon. A colon has two dots. One dot should be semicolon. However, one dot is called a period, which is confusing. Maybe we should rename semicolon to period-comma. I mean, that is what it is, right?

By: Mindy

Mindy — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 04:12:29 +0000

I vote for the eradication of the misuse of the semicolon or the apostrophe and the overuse of the exclamation point. Not every sentence you write is that exciting, dammit! I want a snazzy shocky-thing built into all keyboards, ready to zap a volt through the fingers of those who dare to hit “send” whilst an apostrophe dangles precariously or a semicolon is rudely trod upon by an inappropriate clause. More than 2% of your sentences end in exclamation points? No go. Not only will the “send/submit” button not work until said error is corrected, the zapping will continue – maybe even increasing in voltage, until it is fixed.

::::::cue maniacal laughter::::::

That’ll teach ‘em . . . .

By: Peet

Peet — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:38:48 +0000

Sure! Let’s get rid of the semi-colon! Why confuse people with even moderately complex sentence structures? We, as a culture, getting close to communicating solely via emoticons anyway. Was it someone from the Bush Administration who said, “We don’t do nuance”? A prophet, I tell you. IMHO. OMG. LOL.

My own opinion: semi-colons, like apostrophes, must be used ONLY by people who know how to wield them. If only we had some kind of mechanism where we could instruct people on their proper use….a kind of…room, where people—maybe even young children—would sit and have someone explain proper grammar. There might even be a way of questioning these people to see if they understood. Have them demonstrate proper usage in some kind of timed environment….crazy talk, I know.

By: Erika

Erika — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:24:47 +0000

Though I am an “instantly speechless admirer of shiny objects” (ADD will do that) I do love the semicolon

By: Allen

Allen — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 22:50:28 +0000

I support all the well-considered responses above concerning the semicolon; it also makes the winky emoticon!

By: Mary G

Mary G — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 22:09:39 +0000

YES!!!! I LOVED Victor Borge’s semi-colon! I’m also QUITE fond of exclamation points, and have to seriously restrict myself to not over using them. Seriously.

By: Paul Ardoin

Paul Ardoin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:39:59 +0000

You can eradicate the semicolon when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. A period does not do justice to two separate sentences with related ideas (e.g., “He blogs for Huffington Post; he’s a liberal”), and just think of the sentence mayhem for lists that contain single subjects that have commas in them (“Her favorite movies are The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly; Love, Actually; and Die Hard” becomes “Her favorite movies are The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Love, Actually, and Die Hard”).

Long live the semicolon. Educate the masses.

By: A'isha

A'isha — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:29:40 +0000

No way! Apostrophes and semi-colons are essential to the English language. People who for some reason can’t be bothered with learning the correct usage of those and other punctuation marks is no reason for the rest of us to write like uneducated imbeciles. (And don’t get me started on the atrocities of misspelling common words and using incorrect words. Come on people, I’m not going to go LAY down. I’m going to go lie down or I’m going to lay my body down. Grrr, that’s my latest pet peeve!)

By: Candace

Candace — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:10:00 +0000

I think we should eradicate EVERYTHING that people seldom do/use correctly. Just think of all the problems that would solve. ;-0

By: megan

megan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:02:49 +0000

I use the semicolon, and I like to use it. I NEED to use it when I use the word whereas. Yes, many people have abandonned the introductory clause; whereas construction in favor of the introductory clause, whereas construction, but I want more than a momentary pause between clauses when I use whereas. I also like to use it with numbered lists.

As for apostrophes, yes I like those, too. I just wish people would learn to use them correctly. sigh.