A bit of copywriting to demonstrate how any subject can become interesting content:
Author: Robert Kramberger, Marketing-Communication Consultant
Mission: Tackle the entertaining subject of grammar and make it über enticing with a crafty poem about everyone’s favourite punctuation mark: the semicolon.
‘Semicolon: Half the colon, twice the fun’
Semicolons help multiple sentences function,
When they lack a coordinating conjunction;
Ready for my slightly poetic instruction?
It’s the communion of a period and comma,
Joining independent clauses with different personae
Like, “John cuts his grass; Bill’s grown a savannah”
Great when you need to state a position
With conjunctive adverbs used for transition;
Then, however, therefore, nevertheless, and thus,
The semicolon seems quite a sound decision
Separate independent clauses that already contain pauses;
Big or small, it does not matter at all;
But do make them stronger, as you ponder,
“Why did I write that at all?”
Or use as a super-comma when plenty are listed,
Such as subordinate clauses, independent clauses; a compound sentence
More than just a mere comma; the effect is double-fisted
Go ahead; generously deploy semicolons without an iota of repentance
– Robert Kramberger (© 2014)
On the proper spelling of “semicolon”:
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary has “semi-colon”; the Concise Oxford Dictionary has “semicolon”. You choose.