don't you hate it when you're writing
and are you hit this yeah I know it's a
semicolon but when was the last time you
even used it it certainly seems like we
should be using it a lot I mean look at
it right there on your keyboard VIP
seating take that dollar sign how do you
even use this thing think of your
sentence as traffic on a road a period
breaks it into different segments like a
red light a comma is like a green light
it may slow traffic down a little but
it's not going to change the speed
dramatically and a yellow light causes
traffic to hesitate for a moment to give
traffic a little bit of room to just
breathe a semicolon can break a list
like sentence up into several smaller
sections they stay more closely
associated than separate sentences would
if two short sentences refer to the same
subject they can be joined up with a
semicolon connect the first part of a
sentence with another clause that's
closely related to it okay without using
a conjunction
but semicolon should never go before
coordinating conjunctions like and but
or or so that's a comma spot where did
this weird punctuation move come from
you can thank the Roman Navy early
Romans had a phrase hastened slowly when
writing its phrase out it was
represented by an anchor above a dolphin
as in slowed down like a dolphin does
among the anchors in the 15th century
Venetian printer Aldus Manutius stylized
the ancient symbol and adopted it as his
printers mark only he was using it as an
abbreviation as the printing press
spread literacy through the 15th century
punctuation marks became standardized
among writing playwright and poet Ben
Jonson is credited as the first noble
English writer to use the semicolon
systematically in his work he was known
for relying heavily on quotes of earlier
writers many among them were protegees
and fans of Manutius who happened to
keep the Venetians classic mark alive
semicolon use surged over the next 200
years
then the 20th century hit and the
semicolon started to disappear
what happened in the 1993 study for
applied linguistics Paul breathy OH
studied punctuation marks in writing
manuals from the 16th century through
the 20th breathy Oh concluded that a
shift from spoken to written words for
communication appeared to be responsible
for its rise but a trend towards
simplified sentences led to its downfall
another emerging technology may have
hammered a nail into the semicolons
coffin The Telegraph punctuation marks
cost just as much as a letter so short
lines were more profitable to send
especially across the Atlantic when
words could cost about $5 each anteye
semicolon sentiment became common in
writers as well despite all that
semicolons have discovered new purposes
in modern life early emoticons gave it
widespread usage programming languages
adopted the semicolon to indicate the
end of a statement and if you've seen
someone with a tattoo of a semicolon
it's taken on a new purpose for them
through projects semicolon the
punctuation is a symbol for suicide
survivors who could have ended their
lives but chose not to end the sentence
just yet so despite its changing
definition this little punctuation mark
isn't going anywhere anytime soon it's
prominent position on the keyboard is
well deserved there are people who rely
on it every day for grammar programming
or support
you