Isn't it fabulous that this lovable, understated punctuation mark has its very own day?! February 6 is the day, since today is the death day (in 1494) of the man who is said to be behind this ingenious wee mark called semicolon, Aldus Pius Manutius.
I think it's such a stylish and useful punctuation mark, somehow it makes texts come alive in a new way. And it doesn't hurt that it's pretty to look at, it flows and it flirts with the reader, compared to its stodgy and unimaginative cousin, the colon.
One of my favourite writers, John Irving, is a master at using semi-colon.
Did you know that the name "Pia" is the feminine version of the Latin word "Pius" meaning "pious" (which certainly doesn't describe me) - perhaps I was meant to love the semicolon.
Happy Semi-colon Day, dear ; !
Love the picture, it is truly happy!
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