Punctuation at Work: Simple Principles for Achieving Clarity and Good Style

11.19 Don’t use quotation marks when introducing an

abbreviation in parentheses.

Forty years ago, people took great pains to introduce an abbreviation,

as in Bureau of Land Management (hereinafter referred to as “BLM”) or

International Business Machines Corporation (referred to henceforth as

“IBM”). You still see it this way from time to time, but usually in legal

writing. Let’s keep it confined there.

Today’s convention for introducing an abbreviation is much sim-

pler. We no longer write anything like hereinafter referred to as (since

readers know this without our help) and we no longer use quotation

marks around the abbreviation. What you see below is what the reader

needs—anything more would be excessive.

Department of Justice (DOJ)

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

improvised explosive device (IED)

President of the United States (POTUS)

12. Semicolon

Even the name of this thing is trouble. It should be called a “super-

comma” or a “semiperiod” because its practical effect is to bring things

to a near stop. But someone named it semicolon, and the name stuck,

and there’s not much we can do about it. In workplace writing, this

misunderstood mark may be used in five ways. I say “may be used”

and not “is used” or “should be used” because you often sacrifice clarity

when you drop a semicolon into a sentence.

12.1 A semicolon may be used to connect independent clauses

when there is no conjunction between them.

Generally speaking, the semicolon works best when the independent

clauses are (1) relatively short, (2) parallel in structure, and (3) do not

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deserve the status of separate sentences. That last issue is yours to de-

cide.

CXD employs 90,000 people; AFR employs 146,000.

Meriwether invented the device; Slovo received the patent.

Fannie Mae stock lost 8 percent last year; Freddie Mac stock gained 6

percent.

12.2 A semicolon may be used to connect two independent clauses

when the second independent clause is introduced by a

transitional phrase.

Note that a comma always follows the transitional word or phrase.

The new procedure will save time and money; more to the point, it will

increase safety.

A new CEO will be hired next year; in the interim, Smith will serve as chief

executive.

The chain of custody was tainted; as a result, the judge threw out the

evidence.

Be aware of the limited usefulness of this construction.

Here the semicolon has exactly the same meaning as “, and.” The examples

above are correct, but they do not tell the reader anything about how the

thoughts relate. Don’t settle for being correct. If you mean Meriwether in-

vented the device, but

Slovo received the patent, then say that. If you mean

Even though

Fannie Mae stock lost 8 percent last year, Freddie Mac stock

gained 6 percent, then say that. Make your meaning plain with words.

Punctuation at Work

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12.3 A semicolon may be used to connect two independent clauses

when the second independent clause is introduced by what English

teachers call a “conjunctive adverb.”

Among the most commonly used conjunctive adverbs are accordingly,

consequently, furthermore, hence, however, indeed, moreover, nevertheless,

nonetheless, otherwise, still, therefore, and thus. Please note that a comma

always follows these words when you use them as conjunctions.

We cannot publish your novel at this time; nevertheless, we encourage

you to keep writing.

The method must be repeatable; otherwise, the results will be considered

invalid.

Our competitors are gaining market share; furthermore, they are

expanding overseas.

12.4 Use a semicolon when you are listing ideas that are (1)

closely related and (2) slightly complex.

In the two examples below (taken from a hypothetical newspaper),

none of the items in the lists requires any internal punctuation, so com-

mas could logically separate them. The writers, with good judgment,

use semicolons instead.

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All of the candidates for this year’s Golden Jabberwock award hold named

professorships at prestigious universities. Parker Johns is Nodanudder

Professor of Ethics at Princeton; Elizabeth Auchinfee is H. Paul Fopa

Professor of Linguistics at Harvard; Henri Belloq is J. J. Queasel Professor of

Comparative Religion at Columbia; Roxana Olescu is Farrago Professor of

Philosophy at Yale.

Attacks by animals that are usually peaceful have been spreading

throughout Washington, D.C. A pigeon assaulted a police officer in

Georgetown; deer kicked out the windshields and side windows of several

parked cars in McLean Gardens; a flock of seagulls pecked at the head and

neck of a jogger near the Kennedy Center; a pair of squirrels harassed a

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