In the delicious French language it is alive and thriving. En vivant comme les connoisseurs d'un bon gout. The exquisite micro-pause, the exact hiatus as a gear change in sentence construction; fraught, simply fraught with meaning. The comma is a wisp on the wind, the colon a Stop sign urging mobile circumspection before proceeding. But the semi-colon is both, and neither. It is the athlete's gasp, the gap in a baby's cries, a little whisper in the barrage of noise.
In Spanish, it thrives. In German it is revered (ah! the blessed umlaut!). In Polish it is feted in the literary canon. Even in Turkish it has its diehard enthusiasts. But in one major world language, the one that (ironically) gave birth to the semi-colon, it is in near terminal decline.
As the English language degenerates into brutish syntax, textspeak, twitter and the grunts of the farmyard, a deep appreciation of correct punctuation is no longer the prized asset it was. Indeed, the aficionado of a delicate expression may invite open ridicule and even scorn. I myself, upon making essential corrections to the glaring punctuational inaccuracies of colleagues, have endured levels of opprobium not witnessed since the extinction of the Neanderthals. And in language of similar sophistication as that hypothesised for our vanished cousins.
I urge a review and re-examination, if not a nascent campaign to roll back the creeping erosion of our language. Let us take as our banner the semi-colon and march towards its full and comprehensive restoration in everyday speech and writing. The fightback starts here, let the faint-hearted scoff and the ignorant sneer; this day shall be remembered as the point where the tide turned.
I shall be encouraged by the "poll" (ghastly word!) that I have published below this post. Please vote and declare your allegiance to the sanctity of proper and accurate punctuation.
