In her book "Eats, Shoots & Leaves," Lynne Truss discusses the growing anxiety among supporters of the semicolon regarding its declining use in modern writing. They express concerns that contemporary writers are favoring dashes over semicolons, which they believe could lead to detrimental changes in writing standards. This shift raises questions about the future of punctuation and its implications for clarity and precision in communication.

Truss's critique highlights a broader issue within language evolution, where traditional punctuation marks may become less favored as styles change. While some view the adoption of dashes as a trivial trend, the semicolon's advocates argue that its replacement signals potential chaos in grammatical structure. The debate reveals the tension between preserving linguistic traditions and adapting to new writing conventions.