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/lit/ - Literature

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17776498 No.17776498 [Reply] [Original]

Why do do many people fear or look down upon the semicolon? I always hear people say inane shit such as: "only pseuds use it", "there's no reason to use it over a period or comma or em dash", or "it's pretentious".
Why? The semicolon is easily one of the best tools in a writers toolbox.

>> No.17776548
File: 857 KB, 1294x1600, Miguel-de-Cervantes-engraving-Gregorio-Ferro-E.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
17776548

virgin "only pseuds use it", "there's no reason to use it over a period or comma or em dash", or "it's pretentious".

chad cervantes:
Quiero inferir de lo dicho que podría ser que yo tuviese alguna gracia déstas, no del no poder ser ferido, porque muchas veces la experiencia me ha mostrado que onions de carnes blandas y no nada impenetrables, ni la de no poder ser encantado; que ya me he visto metido en una jaula, donde todo el mundo no fuera poderoso a encerrarme, si no fuera a fuerzas de encantamentos; pero pues de aquél me libré, quiero creer que no ha de haber otro alguno que me empezca; y así, viendo estos encantadores que con mi persona no pueden usar de sus malas mañas, vénganse en las cosas que más quiero, y quieren quitarme la vida maltratando la de Dulcinea, por quien yo vivo; y así, creo que cuando mi escudero le llevó mi embajada, se la convirtieron en villana y ocupada en tan bajo ejercicio como es el de ahechar trigo; pero ya tengo yo dicho que aquel trigo ni era rubión ni trigo, sino granos de perlas orientales; y para prueba desta verdad quiero decir a vuestras magnitudes cómo viniendo poco ha por el Toboso, jamás pude hallar los palacios de Dulcinea, y que otro día, habiéndola visto Sancho mi escudero en su mesma figura, que es la más bella del orbe, a mí me pareció una labradora tosca y fea, y no nada bien razonada, siendo la discreción del mundo; y pues yo no estoy encantado, ni lo puedo estar, según buen discurso, ella es la encantada, la ofendida, y la mudada, trocada y trastrocada, y en ella se han vengado de mí mis enemigos, y por ella viviré yo en perpetuas lágrimas, hasta verla en su prístino estado.

>> No.17776623

>>17776498
Em dash and semi-colon are equals. People avoid them because they do not understand them and don't want to learn how to use them.

>>17776548
Semi-colon use is different in Spanish.

>> No.17776645

>>17776498
It insists upon itself

>> No.17776699

>>17776645
No, it connects clauses in a way which other punctuation marks can not, it insists upon what surrounds it, not itself.

>> No.17776818

>>17776498
I love using these whilst texting

>> No.17776854

>>17776699
it draws attention to itself
''look at me, i'm not a comma, i mean something different''
you get distracted from the meaning of the sentence because now you're thinking about what a faggot the author is for including this piece of shit

>> No.17776862

>>17776854
>''look at me, i'm not a comma, i mean something different''
Ok, then every word you just used does the same thing.

>> No.17777143

>>17776498
I just don't understand it

I've read articles, watched videos, read comments of people trying to explain it and it has just never clicked in my head, I simply cannot grasp how it's supposed to be used.

>> No.17777148

>>17776498
It connects ideas that are too similar to be different sentences but better juxtaposed with more immediacy than a conjunction affords. It takes a lot of intuition to know how to use semicolons effectively.

>> No.17777920

>>17776498
It's for pseuds

>> No.17777931

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M94ii6MVilw

>> No.17777939

>>17777931
Is this going to be one of those things that suggests we use semi-colons in speech? Icantbringmyselftowachit.

>> No.17778243

>>17777143
You replace the comma that you put before "I simply cannot grasp how it's supposed to be used" with a semicolon.

>> No.17778261

>>17776498
I have no idea why people are so mad when they see this.

>> No.17778312

I've read articles, watched videos, read comments of people trying to explain it and it has just never clicked in my head; I simply cannot grasp how it's supposed to be used.

>> No.17778325

>>17776498
>Why do do many people fear or look down upon the semicolon?
Because many people, even after being taught how to use it, cannot use it correctly.

>> No.17778334

>>17776854
based

>> No.17778337

>>17776498
its only really acceptable in poetry

>> No.17778342

>>17776699
>can not, it insists
*can not; it insists

>> No.17778358

>>17778337
Slam poetry?

>> No.17778365

The semicolon filters half-literate fucks who only read genre fiction

>> No.17778368

>>17776498
semicolon is a dumb name. should be called pericomma

>> No.17778371 [DELETED] 

>>17778312
You use a semicolon to bind two mutually relevant but independent clauses together; unlike clarifying punctuation, it best used for rhetorical effect.

>> No.17778377

>>17778261
It’s not inherently an ugly punctuation mark, nor is it hard to use correctly—but when attached to bad writing, it makes the author seem like a tryhard teenager who fancies themselves a talented writer. In most books I’ve read it’s fine, but when some douche pseud uses it in a snarky tweet or whatever it just comes off as pretentious.

>> No.17778381

>>17777939
Its a joke song with a good punch line. Zoomers don't respect lonely islands.
>>17778243
most based post in the whole thread

>> No.17778420

>>17778381
What do zoomers have to do with it?

>> No.17778446

>>17776854
Not as much as I get distracted by you: a person who doesn't seem to know what a comma splice is.

>> No.17778453

>>17776498
>Why do do many people fear or look down upon the semicolon?
I don't, I'm with you semicolon bro. I preffer semicolon than 2nd paragraph hyphen "--like this".

>> No.17778890

>>17778453
Aren’t you a brave one.

>> No.17779624

>>17778446
>comma splice
What?

>> No.17779637

>>17776498
My brain immediately turns off the moment someone starts tossing "pseud" around, as if they actually believe what they're saying acts as a litmus test for """"genuine"""" intellectualism. It's a stupid, arrogant word.

>> No.17779684

The majority of the time it is used, it is being used incorrectly. Of those extremely few times it is being used correctly, 99% of the time there is a better way to write whatever is being written that excludes it.

>> No.17779699

>>17779624
>doesn't seem to know what a comma splice is

>> No.17779724

>>17776498
I suppose it's just less straightforward so people are less familiar with it. I use it all the time.

>> No.17779740
File: 1.79 MB, 400x300, 1395791631264.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
17779740

the semicolon is the grammatical equivalent of "whom" or "t'was." You could use it... but why?

>> No.17779896

>>17779740
Being different?

>> No.17779916

>>17776854
10/10 post.
Everyone bar myself, that've replied to you are cunts.

>> No.17780154

>>17777143
>>17778312
The basic idea is simple.

A comma separates two clauses which aren't both sentences in their own right. A semi-colon joins two sentences.

So for example, suppose we take two short sentences:

>The king impregnated his chambermaid.
>The queen was not pleased.

Now suppose we want to join these? We use a semi-colon:

>The king impregnated his chambermaid; the queen was not pleased.

Contrast that with the following:

>The king impregnated his chambermaid, who was an absolute babe.

Here we use a comma because the second part:
>who was an absolute babe
isn't a sentence on its own. It only makes sense joined to the first part.

The first example also shows basically WHERE and WHY we use a semi-colon. We use it to join two related sentences, for two main reasons:
* It makes the writing flow more smoothly. Lots of short sentences get a bit choppy.
* It implies a logical connection. When we say
>The king impregnated his chambermaid; the queen was not pleased.
we're very strongly implying that the queen was not pleased BECAUSE the king impregnated the chambermaid. Of course we could go further and just say so:
>The king impregnated his chambermaid, and because of this the queen was not pleased.
but this is a bit laborious and a bit lame, like explaining a joke. Sometimes we want to be a little less pedantic.

>> No.17780248

>>17776498
Honestly; I love using a semicolon; no other punction comes close; the dopamine rush as my right pinky hits the key is sublime; it’s something people are just unaware of; thus they fear it;

>> No.17780268

>>17779740
People who don’t read or write will literally never understand.

>> No.17780278

>>17779699
There is no comma splice though

>> No.17780291
File: 55 KB, 299x315, 1511858765361.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
17780291

>>17776498
I use it. I've found it's mostly posturing dilettantes who are vocal against it. Like that faggot Vonnegut.

>> No.17780298

People that use the semicolon as the same meaning as the colon deserve nothing less than being skinned.

>> No.17780319

>>17780278
Anon...

>> No.17780326

>>17780298
Oh; yeah?

>> No.17780332

>>17780298
It's people who use the comma and semi-colon interchangeably who need skinning. (Or just de-fingering so they can't type or hold a pen; that would do it.)

>> No.17780342

>>17779916
faggot

>> No.17780365

>>17780154
Excellent post

>> No.17781127

>>17780154
Why wouldn't you just use a comma in that sentence?
>it's a comma spl-
So what, do you think literally anyone would ever be confused about the meaning of the sentence? Of course not, it's entirely ridiculous.

>> No.17781156

>>17778453
Dude I use it all the time it’s useful as fuck and helps me write the way I think. I have no idea what these idiots are talking about.

>> No.17781166

>>17780154
Hi Rocky

Also based

>> No.17781181

Love semi-colons. Used them continuously whilst writing my master's thesis and got massive praise for my language skills.

>> No.17781205

>>17781156
you think like a faggot evidently

>> No.17781279

>>17776498
> only pseuds use it
> there's no reason to use it over a period, comma, or emdash
> it's pretentious
Looks like you predicted this entire thread, OP.
I personally love semicolons. Sometimes comma splices happen and a full stop or a conjunction won't cut it.

>> No.17781671

>>17776498
The only people who deny the semicolon;
are faggots.

>> No.17781699
File: 1.94 MB, 500x459, 1570878295292.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
17781699

I write to communicate, not follow rules.
Do as you please.