Comments on: Honest Words About Semicolons

By: Soren

Soren — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:09:00 +0000

For what it’s worth, Cormac McCarthy strenuously avoids semicolons. Attributions as well. Quotation marks too. Absence of semicolons I can live with. The complete lack of attribution often strikes me as a pose, and don’t get me started on ignoring quotation marks. Does he think his prose is a thing so divinely wrought that such considerations are beneath him? Yet, I do enjoy reading him. Go figure.

By: Steve Osborne

Steve Osborne — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:05:44 +0000

Zephyr, you’ve made a valid point and stated it well. I would say you should be a writer, but I think maybe you already are.

By: zephyr

zephyr — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:30:58 +0000

Ahhhhh
i, too, respectfully disagree (and am an anarchist when it comes to grammar and punctuation rules in my blog since i’m forced to live by them in my work)

i believe there are lots of uses for the semi-colon, particularly in “creative” writing (isn’t all writing creative?) where a snappy, snipped off, clipped, succinct style is used. Quoting from the delightful book Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss:

“See how the sense changes with the punctuation in this example:

Tom locked himself in the shed. England lost to Argentina.”

These two sentences have lost their relationship with the use of a period. They seem totally, completely unrelated.

Again
style most often dictates.
And
in many cases
semi-colons fit a style brilliantly.

By: Steve Osborne

Steve Osborne — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:47:49 +0000

Good example of the intelligent use of a semicolon. Thanks, VF.

By: Van Flicke

Van Flicke — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:40:04 +0000

I respectfully disagree. I think the semi-colon holds a respectable place and has a valuable role in our language. In fact, I used it this weekend in a memo: “While the product manager is responsible for the success or failure of the product, the authority to make the product a priority to the rest of the organization is not given; the product manager must marshal the resources and manage other’s priorities to impact the successful results. ”

Yes, it’s not poetry and prose, but the point is reinforced by the semi-colon; the sentence builds toward the semi-coloned clause, not just another blank statement that suggests my 3×5 notecards were in order.

Given the right situation, the semi-colon emphasizes where a period is a bland stop.

BTW, I thoroughly enjoy your short essays/columns/blogs. Please keep it going.

All the Best,

By: Monday Morning Link Roundup for 7/21/08 | PureBlogging

Monday Morning Link Roundup for 7/21/08 | PureBlogging — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:52:33 +0000

[...] the Writer’s Bag, there’s a brand-new post about semicolons which does two things: Settles a discussion I had with commenter PS3 after my comma post, and makes [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:56:47 +0000

I’m inclined to agree too. In your second example, I’d think two different sentences would carry more impact too.