Semi-colon; a New York prologue

2004-11-16 - 12:07 a.m.

Possibly the least interesting part of the weekend is that one of the books that I read over the weekend was Eats, Shoots & Leaves, by Lynne Truss.

The book is (or was?) a number one best-seller in Britain, and it's a book strictly about punctuation.

It's a light read if you're into punctuation, which I am, and pretty entertaining. I was a little bit skeptical about the chapter on semi-colons, because I have an irrational fear of semi-colons, and I'm still not sure if I understand them after reading about them. The same thing happened when I took the "Grammar for Editors" course for my certificate; I learned about semi-colons and, while in the class, I understood them and saw their aesthetic and necessity. But as soon I was away, I lost it.

What I've been doing to compensate - and it's been getting on my nerves for a while - is over using dashes. They have their purpose, too, but I'm not happy using them all the time. I feel like by avoiding the semi-colon, I'm limiting myself.

In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Truss laments the fact that semi-colons, a form of punctuation that's been around - and admired by writers and readers - for centuries, is being forced out for no good reason. Perhaps to her, it's like doing away with one of the black keys on a piano: you can still make beautiful music, but why forever limit yourself that way? I think I agree.

Anyway, tonight I was writing an email to the rugby guys and I was about to use another dash needlessly. I hesitated, feeling vaguely like I would be letting myself down, and that maybe I should take a risk, because I enjoy reading the proper use of semi-colons. I'd like to learn how to use them, even if it takes a little effort.

So, here's the sentence I ended up writing (I'm asking if anyone's recorded some games that aired on TV lately):

"I'd love to get a chance to watch some Canadian rugby; it might help take some of the sting out of the end of the season."

I think that sentence looks okay. I'm going to wait a few days and then re-read it. The worst thing about enjoying punctuation (or any tool of writing, I guess) is that there's always the risk of overstepping yourself and sounding like an ass. I hate it when that happens. But sometimes I just want to play with things.

Also, I'll be writing about New York and rugby over the next few days, both here and elsewhere. I figure that I can write a decent article for somebody (anybody?). And they won't all be about books that I read (although I did read some things while I was up there. Including a brief history of the turnstyle), in case you're worried about that. For you guys, I'll write about the good stuff (blood! Guts! Naked Men!), worry not.

You know, this is the first time that I've been so excited about writing something in the realm of non-fiction. I may have found my niche. Freaky.

Cheers,

The Magus

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