The Semicolon, Semi-explained

This month we continue our journey down punctuation road for a discussion of that little understood and oft-feared mark, the semicolon. Yes, feared! I once feared it because I could not fathom why anyone would ever want to use it! Show offs, I thought! Once I found enlightenment, I became semi-confident about my semicolon use.

Once upon a time, a period married a colon and gave birth to a semicolon. The semicolon had some of the characteristics of a period because it usually came at the end of a clause that could stand on its own as a sentence. It had some of the characteristics of a colon because it caused the reader to slow down and nearly come to a full stop. It also resembled its uncle the comma because it gave a sense of flow to two clauses locked in a love embrace. When little Miss Semicolon grew to adulthood, she said, ''I'm all about relationships.''

The function of the semicolon is in bringing two clauses together in a relationship but not necessarily specifying what the relationship is. The relationship happens in readers' heads; that is the beauty of the semicolon.

Consider this sentence:
The credit markets are reeling over the sub-prime debacle; more economists are predicting a credit crunch, if not a recession.

The causal relationship is implied. I like semicolons because they enable a writer to use those relationships to weave subtext; they also make careful reading more rewarding.

For a moment, allow me to digress and comment on something called ''comma splices.'' When I taught writing at the college level, students seemed to be hooked on comma splices. What is a comma splice? Here's an example:

When my father was a boy, Studebakers were the cars everybody loved to hate, they would overheat in traffic and mechanics were hard to come by.

Comma splices are grammatically incorrect and annoying to read. They give me the impression that the writer does not know where one clause ends and the next begins.

Look at the difference a semicolon makes:
When I was a boy, Studebakers were the cars everybody loved to hate; they would overheat in traffic and mechanics were hard to come by.

My point: Those of you who love shaking comma sprinkles on your ice cream should try sprinkling semicolons for a refreshing change of pace.

I often see semicolons used with transition words such as however, on the other hand, moreover, thus and therefore.

I saw him at the store; however, he didn't see me.

Transition words ruin what I love about semicolons by making the relationship between the clauses obvious. On the other hand, those transition words can be very useful in business and technical writing because they contribute to readability.

Some punctuation guides say you must always place the semicolon before the transition word; however, Leslie Bivens points out that such a rule is misleading. All three of the examples below are correct:

Example #1: I saw him at the store; however, he didn't see me.
Example #2: I saw him at the store; he, however, didn't see me.
Example #3: I saw him at the store; he didn't see me, however.

Notice how the linking words can be placed at various points in the second clause, yet the semicolon is always placed between the first and second clause.

The second major semicolon use is in a complex series where the semicolon is used to keep hierarchies correct.

Examples of American Gothic architecture can be found in Lenox, Massachusetts; Hampton Roads, Virginia; and Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

When not every item in a series has a modifier, don't let that throw you. Use the semicolon between all the items in the series.

The group included Bert, IT manager; Sandra; and Jennifer, corporate comptroller.

And now a little bit about the history of the semicolon. First used by a London printer in 1560, Shakespeare's sonnets employed them regularly. For example, two couplets from one humorous sonnet:

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

And there you have it! My semi-humorous, semi-complete ode to semicolons.