Contemporary Grammar- The Elusive Semi-Colon

If you ain't got no use for good grammar; or speaking good; then this won't be of no interest to you, so skip it.

One of the hardest parts of reviewing books is avoiding nitpicking about meaningless stuff; and for the most part I think I do a good job in that respect. But I have held my piece for 6 long years now concerning the disappearance of the semi-colon from our language. It’s a kind of “endangered species” in the world of grammar. And, even when one is used, it is often used incorrectly.

Let me be up front about this; I never went to college. Actually, I went for 2 days. Took a look around and realized that I was only there for other people and their expectations of me. So, I stopped going. Maybe not the brightest decision; but it’s the path I chose. But that doesn't mean I don’t know my grammar. I learned it in grammar school; of all places. And the lessons stuck.

See what I have done in the last two paragraphs? I have used a semi-colon to extend sentences beyond simple statements and add nuance to the writing. In the first sentence I used one to judge my own statement, while still keeping the integrity of the first part. And I did that 3 times in the second paragraph. That’s one use for the semi-colon.

The other great thing about semi-colons is that they can be used as a sort of parentheses to insert an idea in the middle of a statement. This allows for more complex sentences and the insertion of a different thought, which may not be directly related to the one at hand; but adds to the sentence nevertheless.

Here’s an example from a book I am in the process of reading right now. As a matter of fact, this is the sentence which broke this “camels’ back”; resulting in this silly little article.

“Eliot personally convinced Vernon Stoufffer of the popular Stouffer’s restaurant to cooperate, even though the restaurateur, worried about the impact on his business, had refused to help Cullitan four years earlier.”

Remember the first rule about a comma? It’s used to separate something from the main body of a sentence. Moreover, it is supposed to leave intact the words on either end of the commas as a complete sentence. Read that one above again and see if it meets these criteria. Clearly this sentence is crying out for a breath; which can be supplied by my old friend the semi-colon. Let’s try it on for size.

Eliot personally convinced Vernon Stoufffer of the popular Stouffer’s restaurant to cooperate, even though the restaurateur; worried about the impact on his business; had refused to help Cullitan four years earlier.

Still doesn’t satisfy the rule about the two ends of the sentence making sense while standing alone. So, let’s try and break it up into two sentences for the sake of clarity.

Eliot personally convinced Vernon Stoufffer, of the popular Stouffer’s restaurant, to cooperate. The restaurateur; worried about the impact on his business; had refused to help Cullitan four years earlier.

That’s much better. It even provides proof of the rule concerning the joining of the two ends of the sentences as one coherent thought. It also shows very clearly the difference between the use of a comma; as shown in the first sentence; and the use of a semi-colon in the second sentence. Where the first sentence needed a breath; the second one needed a pause.

This is just me finally getting something off my chest which has been bothering me for some time now. It’s no big deal; my chest or the something I just got off of it. But I do feel better. And, by the way, if you go back about 4 years or more on this blog, you will find me guilty of everything I am complaining about here today.

1. com·ma

   ˈkämə/

   noun

   noun: comma; plural noun: commas; noun: comma butterfly; plural noun: comma butterflies

   1. 1.

      a punctuation mark (,) indicating a pause between parts of a sentence. It is also used to separate items in a list and to mark the place of thousands in a large numeral.

1. sem·i·co·lon

   ˈsemēˌkōlən,ˈsemīˌkōlən/

   noun

   noun: semicolon; plural noun: semicolons; noun: semi-colon; plural noun: semi-colons

   1. a punctuation mark (;) indicating a pause, typically between two main clauses, that is more pronounced than that indicated by a comma.