If I were ever to get a tattoo, I would have a semicolon inked somewhere special (ahem).
I know I don’t always use semicolons properly. I can admit in the quietness of the night that there are times when I have done wrong by the semicolon. But when I think of that beautiful roundness above and the curve below, there’s a flutter in my stomach, my heart races and remember all over again that I love the semicolon.
So tell me, Persephoneers, which is your favourite punctuation mark?
N.B. I do find it rather amusing that I have managed to write this without using a semicolon. But that only goes to reassure me that the semicolon is so wonderful that it shouldn’t be forced into a sentence, but instead used only when the moment is right.
21 replies on “Lunchtime Poll: Punctuation”
[Brackets.] They frequently provide additional context, and I’m a sucker for anything which facilitates conversation or comprehension. To top it off, they’re also mathematical symbols! Although when it comes to brackets and math, I prefer {curly brackets}.
If we’re including shorthand-style punctuation as well, the triangle of three dots symbolizing “therefore” is my favourite.
I love the therefore triangle! I use it way too often, but it’s worth it! :)
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I adore that post! And here’s the link for everyone else.
http://www.collegehumor.com/post/6872071/8-new-and-necessary-punctuation-marks
I like the three dots.
The “learning objective” on my daughter’s report card this year was “to make sure every sentence always ends with a full stop.” (Wha?) She, all of six years old, immediately said “But sometimes you need an exclamation mark!”, and I loved her for it. Exclamation marks are ace!
That is a fantastic response. Exclamation marks certainly are ace!
Parentheses. They create little isolated worlds unto themselves. I am often guilty of parenthetical asides. I can’t have just one thought about something. I have to contradict myself. (As it happens, “I contain multitudes.”)
“They create little isolated worlds unto themselves.”
I love this!
Oh, you had to open this can of worms!
I also love semicolons. I love the em-dash, although it’s rarely used when it should be. I’m pro-comma in all its forms, especially the Oxford. People seem scared of commas sometimes.
I think that ellipses and parentheses are overused and rarely used correctly. For example, ellipses are THREE dots; that’s why one of the other names is “three-dot leader.” As far as parentheses, a lot of things I read seem to have more parenthetical asides than actual text.
Discovering the em-dash was a watershed moment in my life. I’m not even being dramatic here.
The em-dash is really quite fantastic, indeed.
Anything that makes a double hyphen into a proper em-dash gives me little hearts in my eyes.
How could anyone be scared of a comma? Commas are like teddy bears. Commas are to be treasured and loved, no matter whether dragged through dirty words or perfect prose, commas are what make the world go around.
Hell yes, Oxford comma!
I’ve forgotten whether P-Mag believes in putting a space before and after the em-dash. Somehow I expect you know and have strong feelings about this.
The official PoM Style Guide says a leading and a trailing space.