Quick: what's the rule for using semicolons properly? If you don't know (and you should), and if you can't find your Transitive Vampire, try the NYC Subway.
Update: Via Andrew Sullivan, don't miss the Semicolon Appreciation Society.
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3 comments:
It seems that, among writers and professors, there variuos opinions in matter of semicolon. Just to give an example, last semester I had a professor who was praising semicolons as a cute tool to use, a nice break between clauses that are related, although their connection is not very strong. But the other professor professor, thought of semicolons as if they were childish device.
I don't think neither the first nor the latter is right or wrong.
The importance writers give to the different parts/structures of their speeches depends completely on their style.
Semicolons are semicolons; love or hate them, but use them in a fair way.
Ah, Kurt Vonnegut. I believe one of his rules for writing fiction was, "Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia." I like semicolons and I love to use them. Although, there comes a time when there are one too many in a story or essay.
I love semicolons. I dabble in calligraphy and think of all writing as art; the way semicolons look simply pleases my eye. Ever since the advent of emoticons, I always think of them as winking.
I'm sure that I overuse them in my academic essays and may make the mistake of using them occasionally where they shouldn't be welcome, but I just can't help it. I also love the ampersand, which unfortunately has very little wiggle room in academic writing but does give me something to look forward to on works cited pages. ;-)
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