AOL

The semicolon, 'the most feared punctuation on Earth,' is in decline; does it matter?

It's divisive; it cleaves; it drives some people crazy. The writer Kurt Vonnegut said of the semicolon: It's showy; it's chiefly used to show you've been to college. More than two-thirds of young ...
WBUR

Is the semicolon dead? Some grammar enthusiasts say so

Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcast on Jan. 2, 2026. Click here for that audio. The semicolon has been described as a "graceful pause" in writing. But this graceful punctuation mark is being ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Could the Semicolon Die Out? Recent Analysis Finds a Decline in Its Usage in British Literature and Confusion Among U.K. Students

The first reported use of the semicolon was in the essay "De Aetna," pictured in part here, by Pietro Bembo and published by Aldus Manutius in the 1490s. Aldus Manutius, Pietro Bembo The semicolon has ...
The Washington Post

This punctuation mark is semi-dead. People have thoughts.

LONDON — Like the fissionable atom, punctuation marks are wee items capable of causing a tremendous release of energy. Passionate disagreement over the use of exclamation points is so familiar that a ...