[The Guardian] The semicolon: a short pause that no one understands | Brief letters

The semicolon: a short pause that no one understands | Brief letters

Using semicolons | Describing Biden | Fish pie topping | The Who | Laburnum trees

One of the advantages of the semicolon is that almost nobody understands it (Marked decline in semicolons in English books, study suggests, 18 May). When I taught preparation classes for the TOEFL and IELTS English exams, I used to tell students that if they couldn’t decide between a full stop and a comma while writing essays, they should use a semicolon because the person grading their essay probably wouldn’t know if it was right either.
Brent Furnas
London

• Much of the description “an elderly, egotistical president cocooned from reality seeking re-election in 2024 despite significant concerns about his declining health and cognitive abilities” could apply to the other candidate (Original Sin: book on Biden’s health decline reopens Democratic party’s wounds, 18 May). I’d have gone with the one who wasn’t a venal megalomaniac.
Richard O’Brien
Highbridge, Somerset

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