#semi-colon #prideandperjury #historicalfiction
Eek!!!!! Is this the end of the road for the semi-colon??? And, if it so, do we care? The Guardian newspaper (see below for link) was this week sounding its death-knell. In brief, usage in the UK has plummeted. (“Its usage in English books plummeting by almost half in two decades – from one appearing in every 205 words in 2000 to one use in every 390 words today… 67% of British students never or rarely use the semicolon.”) Figures in the US are doubtless lower still.
Of course, semi-colons are mostly used, either for joining two full sentences together, for flow, or for separating clauses already comma-ed (and yes, I do know comma-ed is not a word, but if P.G. Wodehouse can make up words, well hey, so can I!) My husband’s seriously academic book, Music in Edwardian London – whose editor was (coughs) me – is absolutely crammed with them. Though I’m not saying we didn’t fight over a few. However, that’s an important academic tome, where even colons abound, and not a word of fiction in it. In these days of illiteracy, predictive text, and general lack of interest in formal writing, the semi-colon – adored by Jane Austen – is still probably going the way of the stegosaurus.
Now I’ve thought long and hard about this, and – like the Oxford comma – I don’t think it actually adds anything. Nor is the absence of semi-colons likely to annoy novel-readers. As, for some, the super-modern method of writing dialogue without using quotation marks annoys, as seen in major prize-winners such as Cormac McCarthy. Here is an example of this punctuation, featuring a brief dialogue between myself and my mother.
- I don’t think much of the Oxford comma.
- Wash your mouth out with soap.
I certainly can’t see JAFF writers relinquishing quotation marks! But, returning to my point (and yes, a semi-colon does have one) it’s pretty undeniable that (a) the em-dash is truly where the action is in 2025 and (b) a few Austen-loving readers might do a double-take were they to sight a semi-colon in the wild. It’s even possible, should a curious reader crack open the first few pages of a novel, that a single semi-colon, to which they had never been properly introduced, might tip the scales against a sale. While a reader is most unlikely, in 2025, to demand a refund due a lamentable shortage of semi-colons.
Is there an opposing point of view? There is. If the semi-colon was good enough for Austen… then… then… Also, some of us remain the offspring of (a) a noted biographer and (b) a professional editor and you don’t recover easily from a lifelong blow like that, lol.
Speaking personally, if I cracked open the first few pages on Amazon.co.uk and stumbled across a properly-used semi-colon in a regency fiction, it’d be a modest bonus for me. I’d think I was in the hands of someone pretty seriously literate, and I’d be far likelier to read their novel. I’d also admire the nerve of an author who dared tiptoe a step closer to Austen than I have, myself. But… I still try to avoid using them. And I’ve never yet been dissed in a single review for avoiding them, either.
Now this is pretty daring, but… hey, I am fearless. Here is a famous extract from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, chapter 3, the sentence in which the Bennet girls attempt to entrap their father into describing Mr Bingley. And what do we have? A triple whammy! Three semi-colons in a single sentence! Even for Austen, this is pretty crazy. (My emphases in bold.)
They attacked him in various ways; with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises; but he eluded the skill of them all; and they were obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour Lady Lucas.
Now, explain to me – in words of one syllable, for I am a simple soul – what’s so cool about all these semi-colons, compared with my edited version below? I know which version is the easier to read.
They attacked him in various ways – with barefaced questions, ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises – but he eluded the skill of them all. They were obliged to accept the second-hand intelligence of their neighbour Lady Lucas.
In other words, my personal guess is that the semi-colon will pass with my mum’s generation, except with regard to lesser-spotted academic tomes. It’s even possible that the recent fuss over the demise of the semi-colon will eventually be classed as a storm in a Regency teacup. So where are you with the semi-colon? Pro? Anti? Or ambivalent? Let me know!!!
That Guardian link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/may/18/marked-decline-semicolon-use-english-books-study-suggests#:~:text=A%20study%20suggests%20UK%20authors,in%20every%20390%20words%20today.
XXAlice
PS In breaking news, my Pride and Perjury, despite being almost semi-colon-free, just won gold in European fiction in the famous Independent Publishers Book Awards (the IPPYs). A national Selfies finalist, it also took the (only) silver medal in the well-known, all-genre SPR Book Awards in April. It’s also a current finalist for both Foreword Indies’ “Book of the Year” AND the Hawthorne Prize (American Writing Awards).
In other words, don’t believe people who say that a volume of short stories can’t succeed. I almost believed them – but this is now my most successful book, whoop whoop.
PPS I also scribble a provocative and amusing monthly newsletter. Sign up for it here: https://www.alicemcveigh.com/newsletter/
PPPS If interested in classical music and/or Edwardian society, here is my husband Simon’s latest book: https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781837651603/music-in-edwardian-london/
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