Sunday, June 22, 2008

Uh-oh ...

... another endangered species: Has modern life killed the semicolon? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

4 comments:

  1. As long as I draw breath, the semicolon will never die!

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  2. Good for you, Frank. I, too, pledge my fidelity to this wondrous combination of period and comma.

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  3. Anonymous1:34 PM

    If a petition concerning this ill-thought and poorly understood essential element of grammatical style materialises, please to add my name to it. Anyone who denies its necessity knows next-to-nil in the department of elegance, brevity, and communicatory beauty.

    Writerly life would take a back-seat to the PCeity (a.k.a. the Punctuation Clowns or Cabal); clear writing would lose a stalwart go-to semi-pause; and, most tragically, we'd all be consigned and resigned to vetters' prison for the duration (not to mention the fact most nil-skilled authors abuse it mercilessly).

    Thus, this petition should not only lobby for the preservation of the semi-colon, it should also argue those seeking its erasure or banishment ought to be taught to deploy it correctly; as a corollary, they'd be attasked with learning the difference between "it's" and "its," just be / causes both.

    BTW, suddenly, I fell in love with your linguistic gorgeosity to the Nth degree in the Wiman 'view . . . good on both of you . . .

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  4. Anonymous2:43 PM

    Good news!!1!

    I've spent the last twelve or so hours accumulating a gigantuan store of semi-colons, more than I shall need in a lifetime so, if it does indeedly die, you can count on me to fork some over (for a small fee, natch <*G*>).

    How many? Well, I used to have 82% free disk space; now, I'm down to 71%. So . . . I am abso-deffo doing my part to preserve this essential point-virgule.

    You'll recognise me, BTW, by my lack of disguise . . .

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