How to use a semicolon?

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Sadly, it's actually irrelevant; fewer than five percent of adult readers
can correctly interpret a sentence that contains one.
 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jezebel" <>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 12:09 AM
Subject: Re: How to use a semicolon?

Sadly, it's actually irrelevant; fewer than five percent of adult readers
can correctly interpret a sentence that contains one.
Click to expand...

I guess that means even less understand em-dashes :-))
 
I guess that means even less understand em-dashes :-))
Click to expand...

Undoubtedly. Most people's reading ability is at its peak(?) the day they
leave school and goes downhill from there. Forty-five percent of adults (in
'literate' Western countries) can't read well enough to find a heading in
the Yellow Pages. Which makes technical documentation a scary occupation
when you're writing about safety.
 
A semicolon is appropriate when your sentence requires a break, but you
consider a comma too brief and a full stop too long. A colon becomes
appropriate when what follows it serves to amplify or explain what precedes
it.

claruspaw
 
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