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cimoreneIf you use a semi-colon incorrectly where there should have been a comma I will immediately back-button even if your story has been so far literate, even if it is not actually bad, and even though if in the same place you were meant to use a semi-colon and instead spliced a comma I would let it slide.
I can ride with the idea that semi-colons, belonging entirely to the realm of written language, are simply foreign to some people and that they are ignorant of them or have given up on them, and in a way I can respect that; after all, a brilliantly gifted storyteller and orator could (theoretically) be ignorant of semi-colons since they don't affect composition, which makes them, in a certain sense... decorative.
But if you're going to go for the semi-colon, okay, if you're going to attempt it, you'd better damn well have it down. If you're not sure, just forget it. Use a period or a comma or a rephrase or... you know. Get by. For the love of little green boxes, why would you make the semi-colon a regular part of your usage if you don't know how to use it? It's not like it's all that difficult. It shouldn't be possible to read and write it as a matter of course and remain ignorant or confused. This isn't Fizzbin. It isn't brain surgery. The rules don't change according to the time of month. They're actually somewhat flexible. They just don't allow, for example, a semi-colon to separate a noun from the gerund phrase (or any adjectival phrase) modifying it. As an orator, you'd lead people to believe you had forgotten your lines or had an itch in your throat if you added a semi-colon-weight pause in such a location, too.
Look at it this way: it's better to cannonball into the pool than to attempt a jack-knife dive and splat on your face.
I can ride with the idea that semi-colons, belonging entirely to the realm of written language, are simply foreign to some people and that they are ignorant of them or have given up on them, and in a way I can respect that; after all, a brilliantly gifted storyteller and orator could (theoretically) be ignorant of semi-colons since they don't affect composition, which makes them, in a certain sense... decorative.
But if you're going to go for the semi-colon, okay, if you're going to attempt it, you'd better damn well have it down. If you're not sure, just forget it. Use a period or a comma or a rephrase or... you know. Get by. For the love of little green boxes, why would you make the semi-colon a regular part of your usage if you don't know how to use it? It's not like it's all that difficult. It shouldn't be possible to read and write it as a matter of course and remain ignorant or confused. This isn't Fizzbin. It isn't brain surgery. The rules don't change according to the time of month. They're actually somewhat flexible. They just don't allow, for example, a semi-colon to separate a noun from the gerund phrase (or any adjectival phrase) modifying it. As an orator, you'd lead people to believe you had forgotten your lines or had an itch in your throat if you added a semi-colon-weight pause in such a location, too.
Look at it this way: it's better to cannonball into the pool than to attempt a jack-knife dive and splat on your face.
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Date: 30 Oct 2008 11:11 pm (UTC)