{"id":1815,"date":"2017-03-07T20:00:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T01:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/?p=1815"},"modified":"2018-07-06T10:23:13","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T14:23:13","slug":"the-semicolons-dual-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/the-semicolons-dual-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Semicolon’s Dual Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"15592503097_591be2ae8d_m\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Having covered the colon the past two weeks, we can now progress to its poorly understood cousin*: the semicolon. And continuing a familial theme, does it seem that if a period and comma had a kid, it would look like a semicolon? In truth, that makes sense because a semicolon performs as a hybrid of the two.<\/p>\n

More than a comma<\/h2>\n

Sometimes we write sentences that can tax the reader because they contain elements and sub-elements, like this: Each floor of the firm’s offices has a distinct color scheme: navy, medium gray, and pearl, khaki, black, and brick, and charcoal, black, and aqua.<\/em><\/p>\n

Clear? Congrats if you grasped all that in one read, but note how the semicolon can come to the rescue: …\u00a0navy, medium gray, and pearl; khaki, black, and brick; and charcoal, black, and aqua. <\/em>By using “more than a comma” at the end of each floor’s color scheme, we are able to spoon-feed our reader.<\/p>\n

A similar illustration of the value of semicolons is when we cite strings of names and positions: Our new officers are Ava Arnold, president; Brett Barnham, vice president; Craig Conners, treasurer; Diane Dixon, associate treasurer; and Evie Earle, secretary. <\/em>Employing semicolons, instead of just relying\u00a0on a blur of commas, enables us to write more clearly.<\/p>\n

Less than a period<\/h2>\n

Sometimes the close relationship between two sentences presents a different opportunity to trot out the semicolon: This year’s conference will be in Atlanta; next year’s is in Denver. <\/em>Another example: More than 600 runners turned out for the event; no injuries were reported.<\/em><\/p>\n

Added clarifications<\/h2>\n

1. * Calling the colon and semicolon “cousins” was tongue-in-cheek; their functions are unrelated.
\n2. Unlike periods and commas, colons and semicolons always go outside<\/span> quotation marks.
\n3. You might call the “more-than-a-comma” use of the semicolon functional<\/span>. It helps the reader decipher an otherwise cumbersome sentence. The “less-than-a-period” use might be called stylistic<\/span> because it is simply a choice. Generally, we could instead opt for a period or a conjunction like “and” or “but.”
\n4. When we use a semicolon stylistically, we usually do not use a conjunction; the semicolon can do the whole job.<\/p>\n

You can go to\u00a0http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/index.shtml<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about my workshops on writing in the workplace, individual\u00a0coaching, editing, and handbook \u2013\u00a0100+ Instant Writing Tips<\/a>.\u00a0Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having covered the colon the past two weeks, we can now progress to its poorly understood cousin*: the semicolon. And continuing a familial theme, does it seem that if a period and comma had a kid, it would look like … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1815"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1827,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815\/revisions\/1827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}