Semi-Colons

From: “The Proper Use of the Semi-Colon, Colon, and Dash, from the Illicit Manuals of Outlaws, Short Stories of Jazz, and Authors of Revolutionary Letters.”
“The dash is great refuge of those who are too lazy to punctuate.”
--Bernard Shaw
SEMI-COLON – A stylistic mark that is never necessary: it takes the place of a comma or period.
USES:
1) To join two or more closely related sentences or complete statements. EX: The black Saturn slid into a snow bank; the driver got out reciting: “The moon, a silver slither of an eighth note.”

I went to work; I had a quick lunch; I came straight home.
NOTE: Both of these sentences could be written with a comma.
The black Saturn slid into a snow bank, and the driver got out reciting: “The moon, a silver slither or an eighth note.”
2) To connect interrelated ideas or thoughts. EX: In France, we brought tea; in Amsterdam, coffee; in America, coke-cola; in Ireland, apple juice.

We brought tea in France, coffee in Amsterdam, coke-cola in America, and apple juice in Ireland.

3) A semi-colon may replace a comma to separate items of a list when additional commas may confuse the reader. EX: The winning numbers were 1,273; 3,663; 8,462; and 2,370; Dean had all of them.

Mr. Green, the plumber (who did it with the wrench); George Jefferson, the laundry-mat owner; and Scooby Doo, the rabid mutt, were all at the school cookout.