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Is the semicolon dead?

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The semicolon has been described as a “graceful pause” in writing. But this graceful punctuation mark is being forgotten.

Grammar and punctuation are subjects that some people have strong feelings about. Last July, Here & Now‘s Scott Tong spoke to Mark Lasswell, an associate op-ed editor at the Washington Post, about what the semicolon is for and why it’s fading away.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

Here & Now Newsroom