3 Reasons Why You Aren't Using the Semicolon

The most feared punctuation in the English language.

We fear the semicolon. Why? Well, for starters, it’s oddly shaped, looks like a comma, and doesn’t seem to have an obvious place in writing. It’s different than the period and the question mark, two punctuation marks that have a stronghold in our memory. The semicolon is rare, highly specific, and other punctuation marks are stealing its place.

A study dating back all the way to 1924, examined hundreds of business letters, magazines and newspapers (including the New York Times), and the semicolon averaged only twenty-two cases per 10,000 words. And according to our modern friend Microsoft Word, the semicolon doesn’t even crack the top ten mistakes that people make.

Yet a Google search for the semicolon results in hundreds, if not thousands, of articles screaming about how to properly use the semicolon. The world wants you to use them. So, why aren’t you?

Bullets have replaced super lists

The semicolon is your go-to punctuation mark for super lists. It gets sandwiches between lists that include cities or states which need a comma separating the two places.

During the holidays, we visited family in Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

But our new friend, the bullet, has virtually eliminated the need to use super lists. Now, if we want to list something, we go vertical, not horizontal, kicking the semicolon to the proverbial grammar curb.

The introductory comma stole your man

You keep swiping right on that introductory comma. The semicolon was in a long-term relationship with the conjunctive adverb, and now that love is gone. In its most rare form, the semicolon appears before a conjunctive adverb to help link two ideas together. Now, the comma wants a piece of the action. Coming in at the top three grammar mistakes, according to Microsoft, is the missing comma after an introductory phrase. This little grammar error is stealing the show from the semicolon.

The dark skies and distant thunder dissuaded Claire from her afternoon run; moreover, she had thirty calculus problems to solve for her morning class.

While this is arguably my favorite way to use the semicolon, it’s rarely used. It’s easier to end the first thought and start again with an introductory comma instead.

The dark skies and distant thunder dissuaded Claire from her afternoon run. Moreover, Claire had thirty calculus problems to solve for her morning class.

Comma splices are hot

We effing love the comma. It’s a sexy little curl, a breath of fresh air, a funny little pause. The final job of the semicolon is to link two independent clauses together with no connecting words. But why bother doing this correctly with the semicolon, when you can create a hot lil’ comma splice instead?

It hadn’t rained for sixty days; the farmers were desperate for water.

It hadn’t rained for sixty days, the farmers were desperate for water.

The semicolon (and the period) can fix the mistake of the comma splice. But we’ve got mad-love for the comma. We love the comma so much we just, want, to, put, a comma, everywhere, ahh, commas!! Commas can do lists (only small ones), they can separate ideas (only short ones), and they can link ideas together (with conjunctions) so let’s use them everywhere! Yay!

Who cares if our Word documents light-up with blue squiggles reminding us that we are making too many comma errors? So what if the semicolon is just sitting there waiting for us to use it? Love is fleeting. And it’s going to take a hot-girl-summer makeover for the semicolon if it wants to make a comeback.

Lexie Angelo is a writer and lecturer at the University of Calgary. Her debut chapbook A Rough Season was published by Loft on Eighth Press. Follow her on twitter @angelolexie