"Your" Words?

[naut]

Whilst writing, I use one kind of punctuation too much; semi-colons.

They sound to me in my head like dotted crotchet rests, like in music, in between commas and full stops :3 (With the latter two obviously being quaver and minim rests, obviously)

I used to do that a lot too. Now that I've gotten a bit better at punctuation, however, I cannot stand semi-colons. I'd sooner rip them out of all literature and purge their existence if I could.

NOOO

They make writing jazzy

My hate for them is purely based on the errors they cause, mind you. So few people actually understand how to use them correctly that I'd rather they not use them at all.

Without semi-colons, how would you join a list of elements with internal commas? It'd be chaos I tell you! Chaos!

Ajax

So when do you use them then?

Between two main clauses separated by a transitional phrase, or in a listing of elements that contain internal commas as ajax has pointed out.

Those are the only situations in which a semicolon is grammatically correct.

Hehe. This all reminded me of Vonnegut.

"Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college."