Semicolons

The following public service announcement, posted in New York City subway cars, reminds commuters what to do with a used newspaper at the end of the ride:

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

A New York Times article praised the writer of the announcement for choosing to use a semicolon, “that distinct division between statements that are closely related but require a separation more prolonged than a conjunction and more emphatic than a comma.”

Chapter contents:

Quick Help: Editing for semicolons

Using semicolons with independent clauses

Using semicolons to separate items in a series

Using semicolons with quotation marks

Avoiding misused or overused semicolons