Neil Neches of the New York City Transit's marketing and service information department gained fame when he inserted a semicolon in a public service placard:
It was nearly hidden on a New York City Transit public service placard exhorting subway riders not to leave their newspaper behind when they get off the train.
“Please put it in a trash can,” riders are reminded. After which Neil Neches, an erudite writer in the transit agency’s marketing and service information department, inserted a semicolon. The rest of the sentence reads, “that’s good news for everyone.”
Which brings the question: why aren't we using semicolons more often? (I blame conjunctions!)
Ironically, The New York Times article itself contained a punctuation error (see errata below). Oh, the irony!
Link - via Nag on the Lake | Oh, and here's a guide on how to use semicolons without committing a grammatical sin.
It's "grammar," not "grammer." Gaudere's Law strikes!
(If you meant that using a semicolon in place of a comma is not appropriate to the guy who played Frasier Crane, then I retract this comment. Except to point out that Mr. Grammer's name is usually capitalized.)
They can be used as super-commas when you want to be unambiguous about commas contained within the items being listed. This is the list; this, that and the other thing; he, she and the dog; homer, marge and the kids.
In some situations I feel like I'm showing off if I use the semicolon, so I like to throw in a few split infinitives or dangling participles to balance it out.
And I am a staunch user of the semicolon; it's very useful when breaking up a sentence into two isolated thoughts. My problem is deciding whether to use a colon or a dash.
I love colon.