Oh! I didn't see you there. No matter, you're just in time. Today I have for you an entreat into the world of less common and quirky symbols: the semicolon!

I'm sure you've seen this (;) little bugger around before. Maybe he appeared in something you were reading, or maybe you were just taking a look at the keyboard and trying to properly name all of the symbols on it. I'm going to try and explain this fascinating thing.

First of all, the semicolon is a punctuation mark. Although it is less common than the period and the comma, it often serves as a halfway point between the two. In fact, the symbol even looks like a comma with a period right above it! Now, let's get into some examples:

The more common use of a semicolon is to bridge the gap between complete sentences that are very closely related. Take a look at these.

Rice is a very hard and absorbent grain. It needs to cook in boiling water for a fairly long time.

Now, it's very apparent that these two sentences are both about rice. You could, then, combine them like so:

Rice is a very hard and absorbent grain, so it needs to cook in boiling water for a fairly long time.

However, what if you have combined five sentences before this one in similar ways? You may find yourself wanting a bit of spice or change in the structure or rhythm of the sentence. This is where the semicolon comes into play.

Rice is a very hard and absorbent grain; it needs to cook in boiling water for a fairly long time.

Notice the fact that a complete sentence resides on either side of the semicolon. Where a comma would have caused a comma splice, a semicolon does the job just fine.

Another fairly recurring use of the semicolon is in tandem with conjunctive adverbs such as however, therefore, and nevertheless. These words take a lot of punctuation to use properly—in fact, they never leave home without at least a comma. Let's go with an example, shall we?

The musician earned millions during his career. However, he lost it all gambling.

There's a few things I would like to point out. First, 'however' has her buddy, the comma, right there with her. Secondly, you could take out 'however' and her comma and be left with two complete sentences, which could still be combined with a semicolon on their own. Even so, let's examine how to put one in this situation.

The musician earned millions during his career; however, he lost it all gambling.

The first sentence ends with a semicolon, just as if it were connecting to the next sentence. Before that sentence starts, however, a familiar word butts in. In fact, it butted in just now! How rude! Manners aside, notice that all three times we've seen 'however' and her comma they could be completely removed from the sentence and it wouldn't change. That's because 'however' and her ilk tend to connect statements logically; they make the message sound less informative and more argumentative. The important thing to take from this is that if you use 'however' in the second sentence, the first must end with either a semicolon or a period. No comma could hold that up on his own.

The very last usage of semicolons is far less common—so much, in fact, that I doubt you will ever need to use it as such. This is the "ascended comma" usage. Here's a sentence, and tell me if it makes perfect sense to you.

On the tour, the band will visit Richmond, Virginia, Savannah, Georgia, Miami, Florida, Austin, Texas, and Jackson, Mississippi.

Could you count all of the commas in that list? Semicolons can help that out.

On the tour, the band will visit Richmond, Virginia; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Jackson, Mississippi.

Semicolons used in this manner generally just clear up confusion as to what belongs where. If you have a list where the individual items contain commas (or are themselves lists, although I can't conceive of why you would need such a thing), you can separate the list items with semicolons instead to make it generally more readable and easier to mentally partition.

Thanks for staying with me! I hope you enjoyed this brief look into what makes the semicolon tick. Tip your hats off to this fellow, but don't tip off his! Without that period he's just a comma, and not strong enough to do his job.

; "Bye, it was nice meeting you all!"

Semicolons are so polite.

If you have any suggestions for another "Quirky Symbols," be sure to let me know! This is your host LimeAttack, signing off.

Interesting... I think it's high time we start something similar to this.

Watch this space Lime... watch this space.

439505

O.O

I'll definitely do that, whatever it implies.

Good work. I hate grammar as much as the next man, so it's great seeing something like this posted.

440128

It might appear in a post alongside the colon, given that both symbols are very uncommon in terms of writing. Either way, the next is most likely going to be the comma.

Thank you for your words, oh wise one.

439403 alas, there is never a wrong time to discuss grammar and punctuation. Thank you for this.