02.18.08
Hooray for the ;
Ah, the semicolon; is there a more elegant — or less common — item of furniture in the living room of American English?
Language mavens will tell you the semicolon is suitable when used in formal writing; it slows the reader slightly as it sets off one independent thought from a related one, but does not stop him dead.
To casual prose, however, the semicolon seems to be a stranger, except as a winking emoticon. Use periods instead, writing instructors say. Separate your sentences and keep them short. This makes sense. The idea is to communicate with as many people as you can. Readers of casual prose tend to be unsophisticated. So keep it simple and snappy, like subway-placard prose.
But there exists a writer of subway placards who believes in the semicolon, and Sam Roberts of The New York Times found him for today’s paper. Three cheers for Neil Neches; he’s a gentleman and scholar.
[February 20: Two days after it was published, Roberts’ article is the most e-mailed on the Times’ web site. Looks as if the semicolon has a great many fans, at least among New York Times readers.]
