The most e-mailed article in the New York Times right now is about the semicolon, believe it or not. "Celebrating the Semicolon in a Most Unlikely Location," by Sam Roberts, reminds us of when we might use a semicolon ("[For] that distinct division between statements that are closely related but require a separation more prolonged than a conjunction and more emphatic than a comma").
He also passses on author and teacher Frank McCourt's thoughts about the topic. It's "the yellow traffic light of a 'New York sentence.' In response, most New Yorkers accelerate; they don’t pause to contemplate." I guess that's better than Bill Walsh's opinion: "The semicolon is an ugly bastard, and thus I tend to avoid it" (page 91 of LAPSING INTO A COMMA: A Curmudgeon's Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print--and How to Avoid Them.)
Noah Lukeman's chapter on the semicolon in his book, A DASH OF STYLE: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation, describes at least four ways to use the semicolon on pages 70-74:
- To connect two closely related sentences.
- To smooth out the choppiness of a paragraph with a lot of short sentences.
- To enable a longer and more complex thought to exist under one umbrella.
- To enhance word economy (because you can often cut out the words around it).
There are nuances, though, and with getting accustomed to the semicolon can also come its misuse or abuse, so proceed with caution.
Lukeman concludes his chapter with:
It is hard to underuse the semicolon, since a work can exist perfectly well without one. That said, there are cases when it is called for, and the writer who completely ignores it is likely to either be a beginner, or hesitant to take chances with language. He is less likely to have well-crafted prose, less likely to offer nuances of style and language. The good news, at least, is that he writes with simplicity, which bodes well for clarity of thought and will serve him well once he masters his craft (85).
Take the plunge; start using the semicolon.
