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Straits Times
28-05-2025
- General
- Straits Times
Why we must save the semicolon from extinction
The utility of this much maligned punctuation mark in contemporary prose has been called into question. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PEXELS Why we must save the semicolon from extinction The utility of this much maligned punctuation mark in contemporary prose has been called into question. A recent study has found a 50 per cent decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades. The decline accelerates a long-term trend: In 1781, British literature featured a semicolon roughly every 90 words; by 2000, it had fallen to one every 205 words. Today, there is just one semicolon for every 390 words. Further research reported that 67 per cent of British students never or rarely use a semicolon; more than 50 per cent did not know how to use it. Just 11 per cent of respondents described themselves as frequent users. These findings may not be definitive. According to The Guardian, the Google Books Ngram Viewer database, which surveys novels and non-fiction, indicates that semicolon use in English rose by 388 per cent between 1800 and 2006, before falling by 45 per cent over the next 11 years. In 2017, however, it started a gradual recovery, with a 27 per cent rise by 2022. Yet when you put the punctuation mark itself into the database, rather than the word 'semicolon', you get a quite different result – one that looks very much like a steady decline. Virulent detractors The semicolon first appeared in 1494, so it has been around for a long time. So have arguments about it. Its detractors can be quite virulent. It is sometimes taken as a sign of affected elitism. Adrian Mole, the pretentious schoolboy protagonist of Sue Townsend's popular novels, says snobbishly of Barry Kent, the skinhead bully at his school: 'He wouldn't know what a semicolon was if it fell into his beer.' Kurt Vonnegut (whose novels are not entirely free of semicolons) said semicolons represented 'absolutely nothing' and using them just showed that you 'went to college'. Other writers have expressed pure animosity. American journalist James Kilpatrick denounced the semicolon 'girly', 'odious', and the 'most pusillanimous, sissified utterly useless mark of punctuation ever invented'. The utility of this much maligned punctuation mark in contemporary prose has been called into question. British author Ben McIntyre has claimed Stephen King 'wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch with a semicolon'. He obviously has not read page 32 of King's wonderful book On Writing, where King uses semicolons in three sentences in a row. Impeccable balance Before I defend the semicolon, it is worth clarifying what it actually does. Its two uses are as follows: It separates independent clauses, but establishes a relation between them. It suggests that the statements are too closely connected to stand as separate sentences. For example: 'Speech is silver; silence is golden.' It can be used to clarify a complicated list. For example: 'Remember to check your grammar, especially agreement of subjects and verbs; your spelling, especially of tricky words such as 'liaison'; and your punctuation, especially your use of the apostrophe.' Semicolons have long played a prominent role in classic literature. Journalist Amelia Hill notes that Virginia Woolf relies heavily on semicolons in her meditation on time, Mrs Dalloway. The novel includes more than 1,000 of them, often used in unorthodox ways, to capture the flow of its protagonist's thoughts. Other supporters of the semicolon include Salman Rushdie, John Updike, Donna Tartt, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. Novelist Philip Hensher has celebrated the semicolon as 'a cherished tool, elegant and rational'. In 1953, theatre critic Kenneth Tynan called it 'the prize-winning supporting crutch of English prose'. In his essay Semicolons: A Love Story, Ben Dolnick refers to William James' deft use of semicolons to pile on the clauses. He claims this is like saying to a reader, who is already holding one bag of groceries, 'Here, I know it's a lot, but can you take another?' 'The image of the grocery bags,' observed Mary Norris, a highly respected copyeditor at The New Yorker, 'reinforces the idea that semicolons are all about balance.' Harvard professor Louis Menand has praised as 'impeccable' the balancing semicolon on a public service placard (allegedly amended by hand) that exhorted subway riders not to leave their newspapers behind on the train: 'Please put it in a trash can; that's good news for everyone.' The poet Lewis Thomas beautifully captures the elegance of a well-used semicolon in his essay Notes On Punctuation: 'The semicolon tells you there is still some question about the preceding full sentence; something needs to be added. It is almost always a greater pleasure to come across a semicolon than a full stop. The full stop tells you that is that; if you didn't get all the meaning you wanted or expected, you got all the writer intended to parcel out, and now you have to move along. But with a semicolon there you get a pleasant little feeling of expectancy; there is more to come; read on; it will get clearer.' As Australian novelist David Malouf has argued, the semicolon still has a future, and an important function, in nuanced imaginative prose: 'I tend to write longer sentences and use the semicolon so as not to have to break the longer sentences into shorter ones that would suggest things are not connected that I want people to see as connected. Short sentences make for fast reading; often you want slow reading.' We cannot do without the semicolon. The Apostrophe Protection Society is going along very strongly. I would be more than happy to join a Semicolon Supporting Society. Roslyn Petelin is honorary associate professor in writing at The University of Queensland, in Australia. This article was first published in The Conversation. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
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First Post
24-05-2025
- General
- First Post
Do you remember the last time you used a semi-colon? Here's why it is disappearing
A new study has found that use of semicolons has declined by half over the last couple of decades. Once known as the 'prize-winning crutch of English prose, the punctuation mark was used every 90 words, but now has dropped to every 390 words read more A recent study has found a 50 per cent decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades. Imag for Representation. Pixabay A recent study has found a 50 per cent decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades. The decline accelerates a longterm trend: In 1781, British literature featured a semicolon roughly every 90 words; by 2000, it had fallen to one every 205 words. Today, there's just one semicolon for every 390 words. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Further research reported that 67 per cent of British students never or rarely use a semicolon; more than 50 per cent did not know how to use it. Just 11 per cent of respondents described themselves as frequent users. These findings may not be definitive. According to the Guardian, the Google Books Ngram Viewer database, which surveys novels and nonfiction, indicates that semicolon use in English rose by 388 per cent between 1800 and 2006, before falling by 45 per cent over the next 11 years. In 2017, however, it started a gradual recovery, with a 27 per cent rise by 2022. Yet when you put the punctuation mark itself into the database, rather than the word 'semicolon', you get a quite different result – one that looks very much like a steady decline. A brief history of semicolons The semicolon first appeared in 1494, so it has been around for a long time. So have arguments about it. Its detractors can be quite virulent. It is sometimes taken as a sign of affected elitism. Adrian Mole, the pretentious schoolboy protagonist of Sue Townsend's popular novels, says snobbishly of Barry Kent, the skinhead bully at his school: 'He wouldn't know what a semicolon was if it fell into his beer.' Kurt Vonnegut (whose novels are not entirely free of semicolons) said semicolons represented 'absolutely nothing' and using them just showed that you 'went to college'. Other writers have expressed pure animosity. American journalist James Kilpatrick denounced the semicolon 'girly', 'odious', and the 'most pusillanimous, sissified utterly useless mark of punctuation ever invented'. The utility of this much-maligned punctuation mark in contemporary prose has been called into question. British author Ben McIntyre has claimed Stephen King 'wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch with a semicolon'. He obviously hasn't read page 32 of King's wonderful book On Writing, where King uses semicolons in three sentences in a row. It's all about the balance Before I defend the semicolon, it is worth clarifying what it actually does. Its two uses are as follows: it separates independent clauses, but establishes a relation between them. It suggests that the statements are too closely connected to stand as separate sentences. For example: 'Speech is silver; silence is golden.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD it can be used to clarify a complicated list. For example: 'Remember to check your grammar, especially agreement of subjects and verbs; your spelling, especially of tricky words such as 'liaison'; and your punctuation, especially your use of the apostrophe.' Semicolons have long played a prominent role in classic literature. Journalist Amelia Hill notes that Virginia Woolf relies heavily on semicolons in her meditation on time, Mrs Dalloway. The novel includes more than 1000 of them, often used in unorthodox ways, to capture the flow of its protagonist's thoughts. Virginia Woolf, semicolon enthusiast. Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons Other supporters of the semicolon include Salman Rushdie, John Updike, Donna Tartt, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. Novelist Philip Hensher has celebrated the semicolon as 'a cherished tool, elegant and rational.' In 1953, theatre critic Kenneth Tynan called it 'the prize-winning supporting crutch of English prose'. In his essay Semicolons: A Love Story, Ben Dolnick refers to William James's deft use of semicolons to pile on the clauses. He claims this is like saying to a reader, who is already holding one bag of groceries, 'Here, I know it's a lot, but can you take another?' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The image of the grocery bags,' observed Mary Norris, a highly respected copyeditor at the New Yorker, 'reinforces the idea that semicolons are all about balance.' Harvard professor Louis Menand has praised as ' impeccable' the balancing semicolon on a public service placard (allegedly ) that exhorted subway riders not to leave their newspapers behind on the train: 'Please put it in a trash can; that's good news for everyone.' The poet Lewis Thomas beautifully captures the elegance of a well-used semicolon in his essay Notes on Punctuation: The semicolon tells you there is still some question about the preceding full sentence; something needs to be added. It is almost always a greater pleasure to come across a semicolon than a full stop. The full stop tells you that is that; if you didn't get all the meaning you wanted or expected, you got all the writer intended to parcel out and now you have to move along. But with a semicolon there you get a pleasant little feeling of expectancy; there is more to come; read on; it will get clearer. As Australian novelist David Malouf has argued, the semicolon still has a future, and an important function, in nuanced imaginative prose: I tend to write longer sentences and use the semicolon so as not to have to break the longer sentences into shorter ones that would suggest things are not connected that I want people to see as connected. Short sentences make for fast reading; often you want slow reading. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD We cannot do without the semicolon. The Apostrophe Protection Society is going along very strongly. I would be more than happy to join a Semicolon Supporting Society. Roslyn Petelin, Honorary Associate Professor in Writing, The University of Queensland This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Scroll.in
24-05-2025
- General
- Scroll.in
Semicolons are becoming increasingly rare; their disappearance should be resisted
A recent study has found a 50 per cent decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades. The decline accelerates a longterm trend: In 1781, British literature featured a semicolon roughly every 90 words; by 2000, it had fallen to one every 205 words. Today, there's just one semicolon for every 390 words. Further research reported that 67 per cent of British students never or rarely use a semicolon; more than 50 per cent did not know how to use it. Just 11% of respondents described themselves as frequent users. These findings may not be definitive. According to The Guardian, the Google Books Ngram Viewer database, which surveys novels and nonfiction, indicates that semicolon use in English rose by 388 per cent between 1800 and 2006, before falling by 45 per cent over the next 11 years. In 2017, however, it started a gradual recovery, with a 27 per cent rise by 2022. Yet when you put the punctuation mark itself into the database, rather than the word 'semicolon', you get a quite different result – one that looks very much like a steady decline. Virulent detractors The semicolon first appeared in 1494, so it has been around for a long time. So have arguments about it. Its detractors can be quite virulent. It is sometimes taken as a sign of affected elitism. Adrian Mole, the pretentious schoolboy protagonist of Sue Townsend's popular novels, says snobbishly of Barry Kent, the skinhead bully at his school: 'He wouldn't know what a semicolon was if it fell into his beer.' Kurt Vonnegut (whose novels are not entirely free of semicolons) said semicolons represented 'absolutely nothing' and using them just showed that you 'went to college'. Other writers have expressed pure animosity. American journalist James Kilpatrick denounced the semicolon 'girly', 'odious', and the 'most pusillanimous, sissified utterly useless mark of punctuation ever invented'. The utility of this much maligned punctuation mark in contemporary prose has been called into question. British author Ben McIntyre has claimed Stephen King 'wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch with a semicolon'. He obviously hasn't read page 32 of King's wonderful book On Writing, where King uses semicolons in three sentences in a row. Impeccable balance Before I defend the semicolon, it is worth clarifying what it actually does. Its two uses are as follows: It separates independent clauses, but establishes a relation between them. It suggests that the statements are too closely connected to stand as separate sentences. For example: 'Speech is silver; silence is golden.' It can be used to clarify a complicated list. For example: 'Remember to check your grammar, especially agreement of subjects and verbs; your spelling, especially of tricky words such as 'liaison'; and your punctuation, especially your use of the apostrophe.' Semicolons have long played a prominent role in classic literature. Journalist Amelia Hill notes that Virginia Woolf relies heavily on semicolons in her meditation on time, Mrs Dalloway. The novel includes more than 1000 of them, often used in unorthodox ways, to capture the flow of its protagonist's thoughts. Other supporters of the semicolon include Salman Rushdie, John Updike, Donna Tartt, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. Novelist Philip Hensher has celebrated the semicolon as 'a cherished tool, elegant and rational.' In 1953, theatre critic Kenneth Tynan called it 'the prize-winning supporting crutch of English prose'. In his essay Semicolons: A Love Story, Ben Dolnick refers to William James's deft use of semicolons to pile on the clauses. He claims this is like saying to a reader, who is already holding one bag of groceries, 'Here, I know it's a lot, but can you take another?' 'The image of the grocery bags,' observed Mary Norris, a highly respected copyeditor at the New Yorker, 'reinforces the idea that semicolons are all about balance.' Harvard professor Louis Menand has praised as ' impeccable ' the balancing semicolon on a public service placard (allegedly amended by hand) that exhorted subway riders not to leave their newspapers behind on the train: 'Please put it in a trash can; that's good news for everyone.' The poet Lewis Thomas beautifully captures the elegance of a well-used semicolon in his essay Notes on Punctuation: The semicolon tells you there is still some question about the preceding full sentence; something needs to be added. It is almost always a greater pleasure to come across a semicolon than a full stop. The full stop tells you that is that; if you didn't get all the meaning you wanted or expected, you got all the writer intended to parcel out and now you have to move along. But with a semicolon there you get a pleasant little feeling of expectancy; there is more to come; read on; it will get clearer. As Australian novelist David Malouf has argued, the semicolon still has a future, and an important function, in nuanced imaginative prose: I tend to write longer sentences and use the semicolon so as not to have to break the longer sentences into shorter ones that would suggest things are not connected that I want people to see as connected. Short sentences make for fast reading; often you want slow reading. We cannot do without the semicolon. The Apostrophe Protection Society is going along very strongly. I would be more than happy to join a Semicolon Supporting Society.
The Wire
24-05-2025
- General
- The Wire
Semicolons are Becoming Rare; Their Disappearance Must be Resisted
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Culture Semicolons are Becoming Rare; Their Disappearance Must be Resisted Roslyn Petelin 41 minutes ago The semicolon first appeared in 1494, so it has been around for a long time. So have arguments about it. Definition of a semicolon from Google search. Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now A recent study has found a 50% decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades. The decline accelerates a longterm trend: In 1781, British literature featured a semicolon roughly every 90 words; by 2000, it had fallen to one every 205 words. Today, there's just one semicolon for every 390 words. Further research reported that 67% of British students never or rarely use a semicolon; more than 50% did not know how to use it. Just 11% of respondents described themselves as frequent users. These findings may not be definitive. According to the Guardian, the Google Books Ngram Viewer database, which surveys novels and nonfiction, indicates that semicolon use in English rose by 388% between 1800 and 2006, before falling by 45% over the next 11 years. In 2017, however, it started a gradual recovery, with a 27% rise by 2022. Yet when you put the punctuation mark itself into the database, rather than the word 'semicolon', you get a quite different result – one that looks very much like a steady decline. Virulent detractors The semicolon first appeared in 1494, so it has been around for a long time. So have arguments about it. Its dectractors can be quite virulent. It is sometimes taken as a sign of affected elitism. Adrian Mole, the pretentious schoolboy protagonist of Sue Townsend's popular novels, says snobbishly of Barry Kent, the skinhead bully at his school: 'He wouldn't know what a semicolon was if it fell into his beer.' Kurt Vonnegut (whose novels are not entirely free of semicolons) said semicolons represented 'absolutely nothing' and using them just showed that you 'went to college'. Other writers have expressed pure animosity. American journalist James Kilpatrick denounced the semicolon 'girly', 'odious', and the 'most pusillanimous, sissified utterly useless mark of punctuation ever invented'. The utility of this much maligned punctuation mark in contemporary prose has been called into question. British author Ben McIntyre has claimed Stephen King 'wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch with a semicolon'. He obviously hasn't read page 32 of King's wonderful book On Writing, where King uses semicolons in three sentences in a row. Impeccable balance Before I defend the semicolon, it is worth clarifying what it actually does. Its two uses are as follows: 1) it separates independent clauses, but establishes a relation between them. It suggests that the statements are too closely connected to stand as separate sentences. For example: 'Speech is silver; silence is golden.' 2) it can be used to clarify a complicated list. For example: 'Remember to check your grammar, especially agreement of subjects and verbs; your spelling, especially of tricky words such as 'liaison'; and your punctuation, especially your use of the apostrophe.' Semicolons have long played a prominent role in classic literature. Journalist Amelia Hill notes that Virginia Woolf relies heavily on semicolons in her meditation on time, Mrs Dalloway. The novel includes more than 1000 of them, often used in unorthodox ways, to capture the flow of its protagonist's thoughts. Virginia Woolf, semicolon enthusiast. Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons Other supporters of the semicolon include Salman Rushdie, John Updike, Donna Tartt, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. Novelist Philip Hensher has celebrated the semicolon as 'a cherished tool, elegant and rational.' In 1953, theatre critic Kenneth Tynan called it 'the prize-winning supporting crutch of English prose'. In his essay Semicolons: A Love Story, Ben Dolnick refers to William James's deft use of semicolons to pile on the clauses. He claims this is like saying to a reader, who is already holding one bag of groceries, 'Here, I know it's a lot, but can you take another?' 'The image of the grocery bags,' observed Mary Norris, a highly respected copyeditor at the New Yorker, 'reinforces the idea that semicolons are all about balance.' Harvard professor Louis Menand has praised as ' impeccable ' the balancing semicolon on a public service placard (allegedly amended by hand) that exhorted subway riders not to leave their newspapers behind on the train: 'Please put it in a trash can; that's good news for everyone.' The poet Lewis Thomas beautifully captures the elegance of a well-used semicolon in his essay Notes on Punctuation: The semicolon tells you there is still some question about the preceding full sentence; something needs to be added. It is almost always a greater pleasure to come across a semicolon than a full stop. The full stop tells you that is that; if you didn't get all the meaning you wanted or expected, you got all the writer intended to parcel out and now you have to move along. But with a semicolon there you get a pleasant little feeling of expectancy; there is more to come; read on; it will get clearer. As Australian novelist David Malouf has argued, the semicolon still has a future, and an important function, in nuanced imaginative prose: I tend to write longer sentences and use the semicolon so as not to have to break the longer sentences into shorter ones that would suggest things are not connected that I want people to see as connected. Short sentences make for fast reading; often you want slow reading. We cannot do without the semicolon. The Apostrophe Protection Society is going along very strongly. I would be more than happy to join a Semicolon Supporting Society. Roslyn Petelin, Honorary Associate Professor in Writing, The University of Queensland. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News Union Government's Agastya Push Leaves Tamil Hearts Unmoved Are We Engulfed by AI Illiteracy? After Kerala Education Minister Slams Hindi Titles of English Textbooks, NCERT Defends Move Why is Maharashtra Surrendering its Own School Curriculum and Textbooks? After Facing Criticism, Maharashtra Govt Reverses Decision to Make Hindi Mandatory as Third Language Language Row Erupts as Maharashtra Imposes Hindi as Compulsory Third Language in Primary Schools Could Ambedkar Ever Have Agreed to Sanskrit as an Official Language? Central Hall | Can Language Divide India? Judgment by Thesaurus View in Desktop Mode About Us Contact Us Support Us © Copyright. All Rights Reserved.
Indian Express
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Agatha Christie is back—but did she approve this AI seance?
In 1926, Agatha Christie vanished for eleven days, sparking a nationwide manhunt and endless speculation. Nearly a century later, she has 'returned'—not in flesh and blood, but through artificial intelligence. The BBC's latest project, Agatha Christie On Writing, has resurrected the Queen of Crime as a digital tutor, igniting a fierce debate over whether it this is a loving tribute, or AI taken too far? The controversy largely stems from the fact that Christie was notoriously private. She avoided interviews, shunned author photos, and once was turned away at the door of her own play's premiere party because she was too shy to identify herself. 'My chief dislikes are crowds, loud noises, and cinemas,' she once confessed. Despite her real-life reticence, she crafted some of fiction's most audacious detectives: the flamboyant Hercule Poirot ('an egocentric creep,' she called him) and the unflappable Miss Marple. Now, the woman who spent a lifetime dodging publicity is back in the limelight. Whether against her will or with her blessings, depends on whom you ask. BBC Maestro, the corporation's answer to MasterClass, has collaborated with Christie's estate to create a writing course 'taught' by the late author. Using AI-enhanced recordings, archival footage, and an actress (Vivien Keene) chosen for her biometric resemblance, the project stitches together a simulacrum of Christie—her voice, her mannerisms, even her piercing gaze. James Prichard, Christie's great-grandson and head of Agatha Christie Ltd, admits he was initially skeptical. 'But the script they came up with simply blew my brain away,' he said at the launch event. The BBC insists the course was crafted 'with incredible care and the utmost respect,' drawing from Christie's own words. Critics aren't convinced. Taking to Twitter, writer Gabriela Houston, wrote, ' BBC is now selling a 'Masterclass' in writing, presented by an AI avatar of Agatha Christie. Ghoulish, unethical and just deeply troubling. Shocked the estate approved this.' The BBC has clarified that Christie's estate approved every step, and the AI was fed only her authentic writings. Michael Levine, CEO of BBC Maestro, in a May 2 interview to Mashable India rejected the 'deepfake' label, calling it a 'respectful tribute.' Yet, as AI reshapes creative industries, ethical lines blur. If Christie couldn't consent, does her family's approval suffice? And what happens when this technology is applied to other late artists—Tolkein? Shakespeare? Austen? Poe? Christie's digital resurrection arrives amid a growing revolt from artists against unchecked AI exploitation. Over 400 British creatives—including Sir Elton John, Dua Lipa, Sir Ian McKellen, Kate Bush, and Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro—have signed an open letter demanding stronger copyright protections from AI firms. They are concerned that their voices, likenesses, and works are being harvested without permission to train AI models, effectively forcing them to 'give away' their art to tech giants. As Ishiguro, in a May 10 interview to the BBC, put it: 'Why is it just and fair—why is it sensible—to alter our time-honoured copyright laws to advantage mammoth corporations at the expense of individual writers, musicians, film-makers and artists?' The artists are pushing for an amendment to the UK's Data Bill that would force AI developers to disclose when they use copyrighted material. In February, musicians including Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn released a silent album in protest. Now, with Christie's AI revival, the question grows louder: Who controls an artist's legacy? Their heirs, corporations, or the algorithms scraping their work? This isn't the first AI resurrection—Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin was digitally revived in Rogue One, and Michael Parkinson's voice was recreated posthumously for a podcast. But Christie's case is unique as she's not a character, but a real woman whose life was marked by a fierce desire for privacy. Fans see an unprecedented opportunity to learn from a literary legend, while detractors see a slippery slope where AI reanimates the dead for profit. One can imagine that Christie, who once wrote, 'The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes,' might have found the entire spectacle absurd. Or perhaps, in true Christie fashion, she'd have plotted the perfect twist—one where the real mystery isn't how she returned, but why.
