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How do I know what proper uses for a semicolon (;) are? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by sopularity_fax@sopuli.xyz to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.ca

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It seems to me like where a period would be too strong and I want the clause after to be considered equally at the same time or possibly as a counterbalanced thing to whatever is to the left of it

If it were to parse it purely linguistically, it seems like not quite a list of things but perhaps a relevant after thought that a comma would be too weak for and a period too strong

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[–] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

An elegant example that I like is "TL;DR" (or "Too Long; Didn't Read"). Each of those clauses could stand independently, with a full stop between them, but the semicolon makes it clearer that the reason why one wouldn't read something is directly related to it being too long.

[–] jaselle@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Too long. Didn't read.

^ kinda feels like two separate comments. Semicolon makes clear they're connected.