Call me old, but I will continue to use the semicolon. In case you weren’t aware of it, there’s a cultural and linguistic shift in how punctuation is used. Semicolons are increasingly not being used in modern writing. Here’s why:
- Decline in Formal Writing: As communication has become more informal, especially with the rise of emails, text messages and social media, people tend to favor shorter sentences. The semicolon, which traditionally links two closely related independent clauses, is often replaced with a period, dash, or even omitted entirely. Here’s an example of the formal method: “She was tired; she had been working all night.” This is now the more commonly used informal method: “She was tired. She had been working all night.”
- Education and Simplification: Many people report not being taught the proper use of semicolons, or being taught to avoid using them entirely. This is partly because grammar instructions have shifted toward brevity, clarity and accessibility. Some educators and style guides now discourage semicolon use, especially in early education, because it can confuse students.
- Digital and Visual Writing: Digital platforms value brevity and readability. It’s no longer about style. Long, complex sentences with semicolons don’t always translate well on screens or in social media posts. Tweets, captions, and headlines rarely include semicolons. Bullet lists and fragments have become more common.
- Style Preferences in Writing: Some modern style guides and influential authors have taken a stance against semicolons. George Orwell and Cormac McCarthy dislike them. Hemingway and other minimalist authors rarely use them. Ahhhh, but authors like David Foster Wallace and Virginia Woolf used them all the time.
- In Programming, It’s Mixed: Interestingly, in computer programming, semicolons are either essential or optional, depending on the language. Semicolons are required in C, C++, and Java. They are optional or discouraged in Python, JavaScript, and Go. This inconsistency may add to general confusion about the semicolon’s role.
- Not Entirely Gone: While use of semicolons has declined in casual writing, they’re still alive in Academic and Legal Writing, Literature with more complex syntax, Journalism (depending on the outlet), and Stylistic Writing where nuance is key.
In other words, the semicolon isn’t extinct, it’s just retreating from common use, especially in informal contexts. It remains a powerful punctuation mark for those who understand its function, but its role in everyday writing has diminished in favor of brevity.
Not on my watch.
Myasthenia Gravis is called a Snowflake Disease; symptoms can be here one moment and gone the next.