SEMICOLONOSCOPY

My favorite punctuation mark is the semicolon; I like using it when I write.

I was one of those oddball kids in school who loved English and grammar. I even enjoyed diagramming sentences; can you believe that? These days I enjoy writing and I always hope that my sentences are formed properly and the punctuation makes sense; it’s been a long time since I memorized all those rules.

I like using semicolons when I write. I think I use them properly (except when I overuse them). I have my son’s book leftover from college that I use to look up grammar and punctuation rules when I write, the Eighth Edition of The Little, Brown Handbook (which isn’t little at nearly 1000 pages and isn’t brown but white; maybe those are the names of the two original authors, you think?). I haven’t looked up semicolons in that book yet, but I think I should do that just to check up on myself.

Okay, here it is on page 491: “Use a semicolon between main clauses not joined by and, but, or another coordinating conjunction.” Other coordinating conjunctions that are listed are or, nor, for, so, yet. A main clause is one that can stand alone as a sentence. So, when you join two main clauses in a sentence, you can either use a coordinating conjunction or you can place a semicolon; of course I prefer the semicolon.

On to page 494 for an additional rule: “Use a semicolon between main clauses related by however, for example, and so on,” and on page 495, “Use a semicolon to separate main clauses if they are complicated or contain commas, even with a coordinating conjunction.” I think that’s what I just did in the previous paragraph.

Two more quick rules while we’re at it: “Use semicolons to separate items in a series if they are long or contain commas,” and “Use the semicolon only where required.” I like that last rule, which reminds me of my punctuation pet peeve of people using apostrophes before every “s” when they are not required, but that’s a topic for another day.

Well, now that we’ve analyzed the whys and wherefores of semicolons, I know a lot more about them than when I started writing about them and I haven’t changed my mind; the semicolon is still my favorite punctuation mark. Now I need to research and find out why this thick, white book is called little and brown!