Comments on: If we sacrifice the semicolon, will the sentence live on? http://www.artscatter.com/general/if-we-sacrifice-the-semicolon-will-the-sentence-live-on/ a Portland-centric arts and culture blog Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:58:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Marc Acito http://www.artscatter.com/general/if-we-sacrifice-the-semicolon-will-the-sentence-live-on/#comment-1297 Marc Acito Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:32:03 +0000 http://www.artscatter.com/?p=313#comment-1297 Yikes. My cup runneth over so from your praise that I need a mop. And flattery will get you everywhere. Thank you and please keep up the good work. I love the thoughtful dialog you bring to all of the arts. Yikes. My cup runneth over so from your praise that I need a mop. And flattery will get you everywhere. Thank you and please keep up the good work. I love the thoughtful dialog you bring to all of the arts.

]]> By: Bob Hicks http://www.artscatter.com/general/if-we-sacrifice-the-semicolon-will-the-sentence-live-on/#comment-1190 Bob Hicks Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:05:08 +0000 http://www.artscatter.com/?p=313#comment-1190 By the way, I notice that Paul Collins, who wrote that witty piece on Slate, is a Portlander: he teaches writing at Portland State University, and is the author of an entertaining book about Tom Paine's bones and their peripatetic travels after his death, "The Trouble With Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine." This man should well and truly be a Friend of Art Scatter. (And, speaking of language -- what else could one speak of -- does one write ON a blog or online magazine such as Slate, or IN one?) By the way, I notice that Paul Collins, who wrote that witty piece on Slate, is a Portlander: he teaches writing at Portland State University, and is the author of an entertaining book about Tom Paine’s bones and their peripatetic travels after his death, “The Trouble With Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine.” This man should well and truly be a Friend of Art Scatter. (And, speaking of language — what else could one speak of — does one write ON a blog or online magazine such as Slate, or IN one?)

]]> By: Bob Hicks http://www.artscatter.com/general/if-we-sacrifice-the-semicolon-will-the-sentence-live-on/#comment-1189 Bob Hicks Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:48:35 +0000 http://www.artscatter.com/?p=313#comment-1189 Punctuation is, quite simply, the road signage of the language. Stop, pause, yield, caution, slow down; in the case of the colon or the dash, it means the following is related to the preceding in a way that is too immediate for a full stop, even though what follows might have its own subject and verb, independent of the subject and verb in what precedes it. Punctuation is the musical marking of the language: when one breathes; (semicolon) when, in its lack, one chooses to rush forward breathlessly. Therefore the rules are not hard and fast, no matter what Miss Grundy tried to teach you in seventh grade English class. That doesn't mean that punctuation can be scattered around willy-nilly: It has, and demands, a rigorous logic. But in an important sense it is highly personal: It has to do with your own music, your own language, your own delivery, your own voice — how you want your sentences to be spoken (yes, spoken, not just read) and understood. To me, Faulkner was a master of punctuation. That’s why he could write those labyrinthine sentences and have them so easily understood: All the road signs were in all the right places, precisely where he wanted them. So was Joyce a master of punctuation, but you’d better read him aloud if you want to get the effect of his cadence. The semicolon is under siege, perhaps, because it’s so often misused (although not as often as the wayward apostrophe, as in, "The apocalypse is mere second's away."). That doesn’t mean the semicolon isn't a valuable tool, used with precision and linguistic empathy. And, yes, Marc Acito rocks. Punctuation is, quite simply, the road signage of the language. Stop, pause, yield, caution, slow down; in the case of the colon or the dash, it means the following is related to the preceding in a way that is too immediate for a full stop, even though what follows might have its own subject and verb, independent of the subject and verb in what precedes it. Punctuation is the musical marking of the language: when one breathes; (semicolon) when, in its lack, one chooses to rush forward breathlessly. Therefore the rules are not hard and fast, no matter what Miss Grundy tried to teach you in seventh grade English class. That doesn’t mean that punctuation can be scattered around willy-nilly: It has, and demands, a rigorous logic. But in an important sense it is highly personal: It has to do with your own music, your own language, your own delivery, your own voice — how you want your sentences to be spoken (yes, spoken, not just read) and understood. To me, Faulkner was a master of punctuation. That’s why he could write those labyrinthine sentences and have them so easily understood: All the road signs were in all the right places, precisely where he wanted them. So was Joyce a master of punctuation, but you’d better read him aloud if you want to get the effect of his cadence. The semicolon is under siege, perhaps, because it’s so often misused (although not as often as the wayward apostrophe, as in, “The apocalypse is mere second’s away.”). That doesn’t mean the semicolon isn’t a valuable tool, used with precision and linguistic empathy.
And, yes, Marc Acito rocks.

]]> By: Barry Johnson http://www.artscatter.com/general/if-we-sacrifice-the-semicolon-will-the-sentence-live-on/#comment-1164 Barry Johnson Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:04:47 +0000 http://www.artscatter.com/?p=313#comment-1164 Yes, a longer breath, but not quite a period, for me, too. Also I think of it as a "logical" sign: the "weight" of the clause to follow is equal to the weight of the clause preceding. (And I hang on to "proximity" in meaning.) And yes! Short sentences, fewer semicolons. Or even NO semicolons. No semicolons, no "complexity"; no complexity and all of French letters is out of business! At least that's what our reporters were saying. In the post, I purposely employed far more semicolons than usual, just to see how that "felt" and it "felt" pretty darn good! I just opened your <em>Attack of the Theater People</em> to a random page, namely 159, and I found a perfect trifecta of semicolons! "He quizzes me on the names of the people in R&D (which, I learn, stands for research and development, not rhythm and dance); he reads me passages from <em>The Art of War</em> ("All warfare is based on deception"); and teaches me trivia about Eddie Zander's native Oklahoma (soon to be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the shopping cart, invented in an Oklahoma City Piggly Wiggly in 1937)." Sweet! Note the equality of "weight," down to the parallel use of the parentheses! At one point, when I was more Taliban about these things, I might have insisted that the final clause include the subject again (not the "he" just by implication), but that's silly. It abuses the ear with the "he", which is the point perhaps of your comment? The sound, I mean? By the way, I find the parenthesis to be yet more interesting than the semicolon! Yes, a longer breath, but not quite a period, for me, too. Also I think of it as a “logical” sign: the “weight” of the clause to follow is equal to the weight of the clause preceding. (And I hang on to “proximity” in meaning.) And yes! Short sentences, fewer semicolons. Or even NO semicolons. No semicolons, no “complexity”; no complexity and all of French letters is out of business! At least that’s what our reporters were saying. In the post, I purposely employed far more semicolons than usual, just to see how that “felt” and it “felt” pretty darn good!

I just opened your Attack of the Theater People to a random page, namely 159, and I found a perfect trifecta of semicolons! “He quizzes me on the names of the people in R&D (which, I learn, stands for research and development, not rhythm and dance); he reads me passages from The Art of War (”All warfare is based on deception”); and teaches me trivia about Eddie Zander’s native Oklahoma (soon to be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the shopping cart, invented in an Oklahoma City Piggly Wiggly in 1937).”

Sweet! Note the equality of “weight,” down to the parallel use of the parentheses! At one point, when I was more Taliban about these things, I might have insisted that the final clause include the subject again (not the “he” just by implication), but that’s silly. It abuses the ear with the “he”, which is the point perhaps of your comment? The sound, I mean? By the way, I find the parenthesis to be yet more interesting than the semicolon!

]]> By: Marc Acito http://www.artscatter.com/general/if-we-sacrifice-the-semicolon-will-the-sentence-live-on/#comment-1162 Marc Acito Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:21:43 +0000 http://www.artscatter.com/?p=313#comment-1162 For me, the point of punctuation is to help the reader easily understand the intention of the sentence. A semi-colon gives you a bit more of a breath before charging forward than a comma does. Hopefully the move toward eradicating the semi-colon doesn't mean our sentences are getting shorter. Or does it? For me, the point of punctuation is to help the reader easily understand the intention of the sentence. A semi-colon gives you a bit more of a breath before charging forward than a comma does. Hopefully the move toward eradicating the semi-colon doesn’t mean our sentences are getting shorter. Or does it?

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