4 ms·

This article does not demonstrate understanding of the semicolon; it is used incorrectly in the first sentence, for crying out loud.

• saurik 5y ago
  OMG, LOL... it's literally the scenario from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M94ii6MVilw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M94ii6MVilw :(.
• vlmutolo 5y ago
  I was looking for this comment. Thought I was going insane for a second.
• Veen 5y ago
  It uses the semi-colon to join independent clauses instead of a conjunction, which is fine. It might otherwise have read, “The semicolon is a profound public mystery, and the only punctuation mark that…”. Nevertheless, it isn’t a great showcase for the semi-colon’s usefulness. The writer could have invented a more elegant example to begin the article; the one they chose is a prime example of a semi-colon that adds little to the sentence.
  • gryfft 5y ago
    The second phrase is not an independent clause, which is the issue. > the only punctuation mark that regularly unites readers and writers in deep-seated repugnance There is not a subject and a verb; this is a fragment and does not stand alone. Prepending "it is" to the second clause would make this a proper sentence by making the second clause an independent clause instead of merely a noun modified by an adjectival prepositional phrase. Edit: I nerdsniped myself and it might not be strictly accurate to call it a prepositional phrase; 'that' is technically a conjunction in this case used to link its own subordinate clause, but that subordinate clause still does not complete the clause fragment whose subject is "[punctuation] mark." It's still just a modified noun.
  • joegahona 5y ago
    A comma is not warranted in your alternate sentence.