World Punctuation Day Mini-Post: Semicolons as Renewal

Like many people who struggled with mental health issues in the 2010s, I have a semicolon tattoo as a promise to myself that I when I am in distress, I will pause – and I will not stop entirely. Commas are best-known as a pause punctuation mark, so why did they choose semicolons for this symbol?

You might find the words “My story isn’t over yet” tattooed alongside them. This implies that life is like an interrupted story or sentence. Interruptions are usually signaled with a dash. They didn’t choose that punctuation mark, either; they chose a semicolon.

Besides the obvious recognizability of a semicolon, as opposed to a small curve or a line, there’s something a semicolon does that those punctuation marks don’t. A dash can entirely cut off a sentence, especially in dialogue. It can mark the end of an interrupted thought. Semicolons can’t. Commas can also signal that a thought or sentence is incomplete and there’s more to come.

Semicolons appear between two complete sentences. The sentence before is complete, with its noun, verb, and any direct objects or modifiers. The sentence to come will also be complete.

You are whole. You will be whole.

The second part of the sentence is usually the next logical step in the thought process or a reframe of the first thought.

The semicolon symbolizes growth, renewal, and even rebirth like no other punctuation mark could.

I might need to add some phoenix wings to mine.