Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Semicolon
“Writing and programming have a lot in common. In both, you can make or break a statement with a semicolon.”
This is what I used to tell potential employers in interviews, when they asked how my BA in English translated to programming.
Slate has posted a terrific article about the semicolon, modern life being to the semicolon what video was to the radio star.
The article’s history lesson begins with two dudes dueling over a colon and semicolon, and though my fencing experience taught me I that am more formidable simply handing my opponent my foil and kicking them while they hold two swords, I can identify with their visceral sense of rightness, battling til there’s blood on the ground. I have strong feelings about the semicolon.
Slate’s semicolon story traces the evolution of technology (Morse code), the Victorian internet (the telegraph) and reading tastes (action fiction). “The semicolon is the enemy of action; it is the agent of reflection and meditation.” (quote from a NY Times 1943 editorial).
Researching this article must have been so interesting. I totally want to write articles just like it when I grow up.
Curious though, the article never clarifies when it is actually correct to use a semicolon. If my copy of A Writer’s Reference were here next to me, I believe it says semicolons are used to join two statements that are very related in their line of thought. The test for proper use is that each statement on either side of the semicolon must be a complete sentence that can stand grammatically on its own, but it’s not the same as a compound sentence which uses words like “but, and, so, therefore” to join two complete related phrases. A colon is followed by a list or some sort of tack-on, a comma is a pause (though we’re all dropping the formal ones around a person’s name or “you” as is proper punctuation). I wonder if our hesitancy to gauge the “relationship” of two statements is due a little bit to the overall breakdown of conventional structure and hierarchy. (Did you know the word “family” used to mean the household servants and had nothing to do with blood relations?)
Yeah, so.
I feel self-conscious when I use a semicolon, but sometimes it’s what works best. Granted, there might be none, or no more than one, in 20 pages of my writing. I make the decision based on how I want the statement read, how I want to encourage the reader to time their reading so as to absorb what I’m saying. Most of what writers do all day is add and remove the same comma twenty times. I’ve probably used the semicolon on this site, but I can promise you I debated the use, felt like some kind of antediluvian steampunk, then embraced it, because I can fight with or without swords.
The hilarity of it all is that I’m a horrible copy editor of my own work, as anyone who reads mintJelly was probably thinking at the top of this post. My fingers type faster than I think, and when I reread I’m hearing more what I meant to say. Only time, a change of mood or caffeine level allows me to “hear” myself. I think good punctuation is a matter of ear, listening to the sound of the statements. A sentence’s punctuation might seem too heavy or merely adequate on page or screen, but the ear can be the best test for missing commas, colons, and semicolons. I wonder if it’s slightly like kerning for typographers. The only rule I’d share with someone unsure of themselves would be to begin with a capital letter and end with a period. Just listen to the sentence and let your ear decide where additional punctuation could help with clarity.
I feel self-conscious writing about clarity and correctness when mintJelly is all “squeee la la la <3 bunnies!" but oh well.
That's why writing code is nice; it's terribly reassuring. The statement runs or it doesn't. There's always more than one right way to "say" or "do" something, but the coder gets a nice happy brain spark of instant gratification if their code at least runs the first time around. heh, maybe I'm only speaking for myself?
The fussy multisyllabic language that the George Orwell essay (from previous post) highlighted is the self-aggrandizing ugly stepsister of hard-working Cinderelly thought. It’s not a battle of short clear sentences versus long loopy ones, it’s about thinking as opposed to laziness.
The socially awkward semicolon suffers from sucky usability. It’s so weird and fussy that it distracts people just as much as poor grammar and bad writing. Who knows what will happen to it?
Long live the semicolon; death to all who oppose us! And don’t get me started about exclamation marks.
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