Semicolons Becoming Increasingly Rare; Their Disappearance Should Be Resisted

Study Finds ^ | May 21, 2025 | Roslyn Petelin, The University of Queensland

[Ken Regis]

This is series.

[MinorityRepublican]

No reason to use a semicolon.

[MinorityRepublican]

No reason to use a semicolon.

[glorgau]

Lack of a semicolon can cause verbal incontinence.

[Skooz]

In my writing I do my best to keep the semicolon employed. I find it quite useful.

[sonova]

I see the need for semicolons, however I think there are much bigger problems with today's English language usage.

[Fish Speaker]

Apps like Grammarly always suggest replacing semicolons with commas, so the increased use of these apps is driving semicolons to extinction.

[NewHampshireDuo]

I love semicolons; I’ll keep the tradition alive.

[struggle]

There are reasons to use a semicolon; many reasons revolve around several reasons such as avoiding a comma splice, which is a grammatical error; using it for a multi-tiered series, such as in this independent clause; and also to make yourself look smarter than the remaining populace, which is always rewarding.

[dfwgator]

Let’s eat Grandma.

Let’s eat, Grandma.

Commas save lives!

[Professional Engineer]

No semicolons, no winks

;)

[CodeToad]

We are headed to 500+ years of the dark ages. Knowledge is deemed uncool.

[Skooz]

[bigdaddy45]

Finally. Someone tackling the big problems.

[dfwgator]

I wonder how a semicolon works with Victor Borge’s “Phonetic Punctuation”?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

That’s because grammatically correct language is so old fashioned; ICYMI AFAIK BRB LMAO OMG!

[pghoilman]

Well maybe between email addresses when sending to multiple parties.

[FamiliarFace]

Punctuation matters! ;)

[Jamestown1630]

I’d have trouble writing without it.