Re: [Fwd: Re: Avoid the Semicolon in Tech Writing?]

["Anameier, Christine A - Eagan, MN" <christine -dot- a -dot- anameier -at- usps -dot- gov>]

> I recently read a Style Guide from another
> company with which I was previously unfamiliar.
> In it, it stated that the semicolon is to be avoided
> in technical communication since one can almost
> always make two shorter sentences using a period.

Well, you *could* make two shorter sentences, but that's not always a
good thing.

If some writers choose to avoid colons and semicolons in their writing,
that's fine by me, as long as they don't force those restrictions on me.
Semicolons reinforce the links between clauses (causal relationships,
comparisons, contrasts). They can also make paragraphs read more
smoothly. When we speak, we use semicolons whether we realize it or not;
we don't speak in a succession of short, abrupt sentences with full
stops after each one.

Ditto for colons, which can indicate that you're about to give an
explanation or a reason. 

I find it hard to believe that readers stumble over these things.
(Anyone have an actual study to back that up?) 

I've had reviewers of various stripes go over my docs, and the only ones
who question a semicolon are the hobbyist grammarians... they're worried
about confounding the folks who know less than they do about
punctuation. Meanwhile, the folks who know less than they do--i.e., the
reviewers who don't know how to use a semicolon and don't have a clear
idea of what it means--invariably glide right over it.

It's not that I use them all that frequently. I just want to have the
option.

Just my two cents.
Christine