Semicolons are free!
Sep. 19th, 2005 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shalannaBless Trevor Butterworth.
Defending the Wondrous Semicolon
I've been head of the Semicolon Protection Society for years, since Fido WRITING elected me. I've never understood why so many people "learn" that semicolons don't exist. Hemingway used them. Believe it or not, he did; go and actually read one of his books, instead of relying on what you have been told about "Hemingwayesque minimalist style," if that's the problem. The semicolon acts like the fulcrum on a balanced see-saw. It connects two related ideas of similar weight. A nice explication is in _The Art of Styling Sentences_, which should still be in print; if it isn't, it should be.
I vote for people increasing their reading comprehension. But that's just me. *grin*
Defending the Wondrous Semicolon
I've been head of the Semicolon Protection Society for years, since Fido WRITING elected me. I've never understood why so many people "learn" that semicolons don't exist. Hemingway used them. Believe it or not, he did; go and actually read one of his books, instead of relying on what you have been told about "Hemingwayesque minimalist style," if that's the problem. The semicolon acts like the fulcrum on a balanced see-saw. It connects two related ideas of similar weight. A nice explication is in _The Art of Styling Sentences_, which should still be in print; if it isn't, it should be.
I vote for people increasing their reading comprehension. But that's just me. *grin*
