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The Simple Semicolon

3/23/2015

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Picture
In my personal mythology of punctuation, Semicolon is a sweet, shy underdog, often misunderstood and maligned but heroic in his own way. He lives in his humble hut, gentle and introspective but always alert to passing sentences that have become confusing tangles of list items and related clauses. Semicolon brings words together in the most graceful way and asks for nothing in return.

I don't know why our poor Semicolon is so misunderstood. Maybe it's because he sometimes gets used in sentences that are long and winding and difficult. But don't worry. I'm here to offer a brief (and simple!) guide to the use of this lovely punctuation mark.

CONNECTION

You have two independent clauses (complete sentences) that are closely related. They're so closely related that using a period between them would be just a touch too much interruption. Well, use a semicolon instead!

These pears are too ripe for me; I like my pears crunchy.

The sun is shining; spring has arrived.


COMPLEX LISTS

You have a list of three or more items. At least one item in the list contains commas. To avoid confusion, separate the list items with semicolons (you can think of it as if the higher-level commas are "graduating" and need a little hat on them).

They asked for apple juice, orange juice, and lemonade; blankets and pillows; and the Netflix password.


There is one last commonly accepted way to use a semicolon: When a sentence has a whole lotta commas and the meaning might get confusing, a comma might be graduated to a semicolon for clarity. You'll see it a lot more often in older literature. But please, unless you have mastered the use of the semicolon, pretend this last way to use it does not exist. I have a theory that it's what causes most people's confusion.

And that's it! Semicolon wants to help. Let him.


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Notes on Mnemonics

3/9/2015

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An illustration of my
Aside from being a cool word in itself (silent "m"? Delightful!), a mnemonic is one of the most useful tools there is to help us navigate through modern life. I wanted to take a moment here to sing its praises.

A mnemonic is, essentially, anything that helps us remember something else. Vague, yes, but also full of opportunity! Let's say you need to remember a list of things or a date or a specific fact. You can create a rhyme, a song, an acrostic, or a made-up association, for a start.

Some examples I was taught:

King Phillip Came Over For Good Spaghetti > Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
Biological classification

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally > Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction
Mathematics order of operations

Stalactites hold tight to the ceiling; stalagmites might reach the ceiling.
Science rules

Spring forward; fall back.
A guide to Daylight Savings Time

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
History lessons

The Quadratic Formula song.
I couldn't find any videos of the one I learned (although there are others!), but it went something like "MI-nus B plus minus squaaare root OF b squared, MI-nus 4ac, OVER 2a. OVER 2a." Got that?

Commercials also make great use of mnemonics in the song form. There was a jingle for National American University that is so insanely catchy I'd often encounter fellow middle-schoolers singing it in the hallways. And the "gotta go" jingle? Band-Aid's stuck on me? Expedia (dot commmm)? Countless local retailers giving you phone numbers, websites, or exit numbers?

The specific reason I'm rhapsodizing about mnemonics today is that they can help you spell. If you don't want to spell correctly, that's cool, I guess, but if you do, creating memory devices can make spelling effortless. I have no reason to remember most of the above mnemonics, but I couldn't forget them if I tried!

The three most useful spelling mnemonics I ever created are so simple they might seem like a joke:

1. TOMORROW (second grade)
TOM OR ROW
(Go with Tom or row a boat?)

2. OCCURRED (seventh grade)
Oh! See? See? You are... are... Ed!

3. OCCASION (college)
No "ass" in "occasion."

So go forth and trick your brain into making your life easier using the power of mnemonics! *Mic drop*

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