Geoff found this link about National Punctuation Day being September 24th. The examples are pretty straightforward, though they bring up a question that I've always had. In this sentence, which they say is "correct," why use a semicolon at all? "She had missed the bus; she would be late.” Why not use a conjunction between the clauses, such as: "She would be late because she missed the bus." Or "She had missed the bus so she would be late." I think semicolons should be used rarely, such as in this sentence: "My son is a physician; however, he specializes in pediatrics and isn't familiar with breast cancer treatments."
The second clause in the example from the article isn't dependent enough on the first clause, at least in my opinion. What do you think about semicolons?This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,
September 29, 2014, 02:34
arnie
quote:
What do you think about semicolons?
Not much. I don't like the way the poor old colon requires the SHIFT key to type it, whereas a semicolon doesn't. It should be the other way round.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
September 29, 2014, 22:18
Kalleh
Good point, arnie. You are right; I use the colon much more frequently than the semicolon.
