this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
34 points (100.0% liked)

Chat

7483 readers
17 users here now

Relaxed section for discussion and debate that doesn't fit anywhere else. Whether it's advice, how your week is going, a link that's at the back of your mind, or something like that, it can likely go here.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
alyaza@beehaw.org
remington@beehaw.org
34
The colon is underused as punctuation and overused as an intestinal organ (reddthat.com)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com to c/chat@beehaw.org
9 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Check it: colons are incredibly useful for introducing new ideas or adding emphasis. And the way people talk on the internet could use significantly more clarity: you can ramble and ramble, and just talk about whatever, expand on your point, really beat that dead horse, and then take a short break. But using colons allows you to introduce an important new idea: they provide a clear separation between different thoughts.

Oh yeah, about the colon as intestinal organ: idk...stay away from Taco Bell unless you have some extra time

top 9 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] just_squanch_it@lemmy.one 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'll definitely give them a try for emphasis: emphasis.

[–] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 4 points 1 year ago

That's what I'm talkin' about!

[–] gaydarless@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What are your thoughts on semi-colons? Not the ideal for organs, I'm sure, but for punctuation... ?

[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

Semicolons are pretty neat too; the primary use is joining two related independent clauses without using a conjunction. Some folks seem to enjoy using them interchangeably with an em-dash; others prefer to use em-dashes as a less formal punctuation mark to replace a colon while still adding emphasis.

[–] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 7 points 1 year ago

Also underused. Especially in lists. Like, if I want to go to Tokyo, Japan (again); Seoul, South Korea; (<- an Oxford semicolon??) and Bordeaux, France then semicolons are ideal rather than a bunch of commas that make it unclear.

I actually looked up how to use them and this site provides good examples.

[–] mavelairsque@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Em and en dashes deserve more general appreciation too, although it seems more of a typographer thing when a hyphens or parenthesis gets the job done but I always forget to close my parenthesis... I know mac makes it easy to type but windows is cumbersome.

[–] Ignacio@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

I'm really tired of reading laws and see how the legislator doesn't know that colons are a thing. And I have to add those colons wherever it's necessary so I can read and study them in an appropriate way.

[–] Cris_Color@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is an excellent post, thank you for blessing my feed with this discourse- I also really like using dashes!

Semicolons, dashes, commas, and colons are all great for breaking up and organizing words without implying to total pause that a period would. I find them perhaps especially useful since I write like I speak, making conveying cadence or pauses to break up run-on sentences particularly important for clarity

[–] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 3 points 1 year ago

Yes! All those underused symbols are useful when you just get a train-of- thought going.