I was reading about a literate employee of the New York City Transit Authority who is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame because he correctly used a semicolon. He had written a sign asking subway riders not to leave their newspapers behind when they exited the subway, adding,

“Please put it in a trash can; that’s good news for everyone.”

Correct usage of the semicolon is so rare that the sign became newsworthy. The writer of the article went on to say, “In literature and journalism, not to mention in advertising, the semicolon has been largely jettisoned as a pretentious anachronism.”

I set my tea down slowly. A pretentious anachronism?

Readers of this blog know that I use semicolons on a regular basis. I agree that they should be used sparingly, but “pretentious”? I live in a small town in a small state, and — aside from the color in my hair — there ain’t nuthin’ pretentious ’bout me.

And an anachronism? I open my semicolon lesson with an exhortation: “Correct use of the semicolon remains a mark of an educated writer.” I tell the kids it adds sophistication. I put little smilies in the margins of their papers when they use one correctly.

An anachronism? Well, I’m a boomer. I listen to NPR. I waited until last week to buy an iPod. I struggle with CSS and fall back on HTML far too often. I want to have my Vista laptop retrofitted with Windows XP.

Maybe it’s true.

As I wrapped my mind around that epiphany, I distinctly heard a 16-year-old who sounded surprisingly like me talking with her friends about how Mom and Dad “just don’t get it.”

A second epiphany: I’ve come full circle. The semicolon and I had just been dissed by youth. It’s OK; it’s a rite of passage.

I reached for my tea. I will continue to teach the semicolon. The kids will understand that only old people use them. And life will go on.

Posted Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:01:18 and filed under Writing. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.