[email protected]

A friend and I were IMing and she wrote
(Why do I so frequently say "I don't think so" when I mean "no"?)

For fun, I wrote:
I don't think I know.

and I saw it as a good example of how punctuation can change meaning, and in
this case the proper punctuation would be a semi-colon:

I don't think; I know.

Quite different meanings:

I don't think I know.
I don't think; I know.


And the reason it would take a semi-colon is each half could stand alone as a
sentence, but they're being used as parts of a whole thought.

If the question of when to use semi-colons comes up I hope I remember this,
and you're all welcome to use it widely and freely.

Sandra

Holly Furgason

A fun book that clearly discusses the use of semi-colons and other
nit-picky punctuation is Eats, Shoots and Leaves. It's one of those
books that explains something you've heard a million times but never
really understood in such a way that it gives you an "aha" moment and
it's all clear.

Holly
2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
Unschooling t-shirts and more!
http://www.cafepress.com/2cool4school

--- In [email protected], SandraDodd@a... wrote:
> A friend and I were IMing and she wrote
> (Why do I so frequently say "I don't think so" when I mean "no"?)
>
> For fun, I wrote:
> I don't think I know.
>
> and I saw it as a good example of how punctuation can change
meaning, and in
> this case the proper punctuation would be a semi-colon:
>
> I don't think; I know.
>
> Quite different meanings:
>
> I don't think I know.
> I don't think; I know.
>
>
> And the reason it would take a semi-colon is each half could stand
alone as a
> sentence, but they're being used as parts of a whole thought.
>
> If the question of when to use semi-colons comes up I hope I
remember this,
> and you're all welcome to use it widely and freely.
>
> Sandra