What the semicolon's anxious supporters fret about is the tendency of contemporary writers to use a dash instead of a semicolon and thus precipitate the end of the world.
In her book "Eats, Shoots & Leaves," Lynne Truss highlights the concerns of those who support the semicolon. They fear that many modern writers are opting for dashes in place of semicolons, which they believe may lead to a decline in proper punctuation usage. This shift, according to these supporters, could have significant consequences for clarity and precision in writing.
The passionate defense of the semicolon reflects a broader anxiety about language evolution and the potential loss of traditional grammatical structures. Truss's commentary suggests that there is a cultural attachment to certain punctuation marks, with the semicolon representing a connection to more formal writing styles, while dashes signify a more informal approach that may disrupt established conventions.
