> The melancholy decline of the semicolon I blame JavaScript developers. /s
Clearly Lisp is the actual source of all evil ;)
The melancholy decline of the semicolon
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Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
#12> “All they do is show you’ve been to college.” The symbol is facing the same melancholy fate as the dodo, the dinosaur, and the Soviet Union.
Consensus is a beautiful thing.
Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
#13Sometimes the semicolon is the best tool for the job.
Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
#14If you’re a good enough writer to know how to property use a semicolon, you’re a good enough writer to not need to use one.
Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
#15Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
#16Sentence length has gone down a lot, it feels like. So really, the semicolon has not been replaced by the dash, but by the period.
When you need to write text for a wide audience, shorter sentences are usually preferable. Most business schools even teach briefness as an explicit target, as far as I know. That's quite different compared to the origins of writing, where the target were (usually) very literate people.
Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
#17Sentence length has gone down a lot, it feels like. So really, the semicolon has not been replaced by the dash, but by the period.
Was going to comment this. Are there any great examples in all of literature where a period would not have been a good replacement fora semicolon?
As a side note, I am only a little offended by the idea that fiction writers should use semicolons to make their writing more literate or fancy. But I think simple writing is always better, even when you are trying to convey beauty. I believe great flowery literature is great in spite of the floweriness, not because of it.
Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
#18If you’re a good enough writer to know how to property use a semicolon, you’re a good enough writer to not need to use one.
> to not need to use one
Why should one avoid using it.
Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
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Re: The melancholy decline of the semicolon
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