Sunday, March 28, 2010

Semicolon

TCGirl is campaigning for semicolons; she found this page.
A semicolon normally just don't occur to me; it's a beautiful and funny page though, and sold as a poster.

8 comments:

Miserere said...

My thesis supervisor called me The Semicolon Czar. On a good day, anyway; on bad days he'd substitute "Czar" for something much less nice ;-)

While most people today use it only for winkies (as I just did), the semicolon performs an important grammatical function that should not be lost.

Thanks to TC Girl for finding that poster; I'm going to send the link to my supervisor ;-)

Alex said...

I cannot remember colons and semi-colons from any of my English education. I didn't miss much school, only a couple of flues, measles, mumps, chickenpox. Not many of my peers used semi-colons, and it was never encountered in fictional writing.

I really started using semi-colons when I started writing in C. I now use it in English too.

Now how do we use colons?

The Dissonance said...

Alex, the colon is the final section of the digestive system. Oh, you meant *that* colon. ;O)

I usually only use colons for lists. For example, I have many saxes: soprilo, sopranino, soprano ...

TC [Girl] said...

Miserere said...
"the semicolon performs an important grammatical function that should not be lost."

I'm GLAD that someone else likes the semi-colon as much as I do! Woo hoo! :-)

"Thanks to TC Girl for finding that poster; I'm going to send the link to my supervisor ;-)"

Right on! Start a "Movement"! lol! HOPE your supervisor enjoys the poster; I'd LOVE to hear the feedback! :-D

TC [Girl] said...

Alex said...
"I really started using semi-colons when I started writing in C. I now use it in English too."

Well...then, "you've come a LONG WAY, Baby!" lol! GOOD onya! ;0)

"Now how do we use colons?"

Anywhere that you list items or can say the word "following are..." just finish the sentence w/a colon. :-)

TC [Girl] said...

The Dissonance said...
"Alex, the colon is the final section of the digestive system. Oh, you meant *that* colon. ;O)"

FUNNY YOU...and the English language, hey?! ;-)

"I usually only use colons for lists. For example, I have many saxes: soprilo, sopranino, soprano ..."

What; no alto?! ;-) (it's been quite some time, since I've been on your blog! I can't remember!)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"Now how do we use colons?"
Very simple, Alex: you let them reabsorb water and minerals at the end of your digestion process. It pretty much performs itself, you know.
Alternately, you can support a Greek temple roof with a couple dozen colons; just don't forget the caryatids. Preferably naked ones. ;-)

Dissonance,
I've heard of diphallia, but frankly, this is overkill! Just how much sax DOES a man need???

"I'd LOVE to hear the feedback!"
TC, the recoil can be heard miles around when I process semicolons in my Evilator™ Zigguratron; the new upgrade should take care of that. (Who cares if the Universe implodes as a side effect of my using proper linguistics?)

Punctuation can be such a powerful tool. In the right hands! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
For instance, the classic gender dichotomy in punctuating the following:
"Woman, without her man, is nothing."
"Woman: without her, man is nothing!"

I rest my case; so do my letters.
But mine is a pillowcase. Nighty-nzzzzzzz.........

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Miserere,
What's that other, much less nice word?
Kaiser? Führer? Caligula Caesar? Nero? Brutus? Consanguinity-born Pharaoh? Dalai-Llama? Boddhisattva? Confuse-y-us? Last King of Scotland? Sarkozy?
So many possibilities; I'm hesitant; so would you be.