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Originally Posted by TimK
A semicolon is used (1) to separate independent clauses, including those using conjunctive adverbs (however, therefore, so, also, etc.), or (2) to separate other clauses when commas won't do the job. It's less of a stop than a period, but more than a comma.
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True, but I thought I'd elaborate a little. Under the second case, the most common way of using a semicolon is to separate complex items within a series that contain commas. For example,
"With me I brought an umbrella, which looked silly with its purple polka dots; my brother, James, who looked equally silly; a large, white blanket; and a backpack, which I stuffed with all the other items--brother included."
Well, I'm sure I made some ridiculous error that you punctuation fiends will sadistically point out, but there you go. . . . Because I use commas within the different items in the series, separating the different items with commas would become confusing, so semicolons are used instead.
I LOVE semicolons!
