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.]
xensen said,
February 18, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I like semicolons (especially in Flaubert), but I think your final sentence would be better with a dash instead.
Henry said,
February 18, 2008 at 7:31 pm
After performing a semicolonoscopy on that final sentence, I have to agree, although technically there seems to be nothing wrong with it. A dash, however, would add verve — there, I said it.
alex said,
February 19, 2008 at 7:41 am
Hey, wait a minute. Neches’ message is a two-edged sword. “Please put it in a trash can; that’s good news for everyone.” But telling us not to leave our papers behind when we get off the subway is not good news for pass-along readership, which helps spread important information to an audience that is unable to purchase newspapers. Leaving your Tribune behind is not necessarily littering.
Henry said,
February 19, 2008 at 8:06 pm
That certainly is an interesting way of looking at it, but I’m afraid it won’t move the hearts of the New York City Transit cleaning crews who must deal with the final product of pass-along readership.
blog.rightreading.com » Semi-buzz said,
February 20, 2008 at 7:01 am
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