Using Semicolons as a Hard Comma With No Preceding Colon

Question

I always thought that if you use semicolons to list or enumerate, they should be preceded by a colon. But it seems that people are doing away with the colon.
For example:
I was treated for my condition on Janary 2, 2003; February 2, 2004; and March 2, 2005.
The companies who joined the Northern Network include ABC, LLC; ZZZ, Inc.; and XYZ, LP.
This seems to be perfectly correct usage now. But before, weren't people being exhorted to rephrase the sentence this way:

I was treated for my condition on the following dates: Janary 2, 2003; February 2, 2004; and March 2, 2005.
The following companies joined the Northern Network: ABC, LLC; ZZZ, Inc.; and XYZ, LP.
Is this like omitting the comma before the and? Or have I been living under a rock?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I always thought that if you use semicolons to list or enumerate, they should be preceded by a colon.[/nq]
That must get terribly tiring. I should think you could spare a little time for thinking about things like the recent election.

Smart-*** retorts aside, you should never have thought that. It's incorrect.
[nq:1]But it seems that people are doing away with the colon.[/nq]
In the past, most of the time it was superfluous. Most of the time it still is. There's no need to do away with it. Just don't use it to begin with.
[nq:1]For example: I was treated for my condition on Janary 2, 2003; February 2, 2004; and March 2, 2005.[/nq]
As a matter of taste, I'd use commas in place of the semicolons, but there's nothing wrong with the sentence as is.
[nq:1]The companies who joined the Northern Network include ABC, LLC; ZZZ, Inc.; and XYZ, LP. This seems to be perfectly correct usage now.[/nq]
It is and has been for some time. You'd be better off listing the names in a table:
ABC, LLC
ZZZ, Inc.
XYZ, LP
But, to repeat, it's correct as is.
[nq:1]But before, weren't people being exhorted to rephrase the sentence this way: I was treated for my condition on the ... 2, 2004; and March 2, 2005. The following companies joined the Northern Network: ABC, LLC; ZZZ, Inc.; and XYZ, LP.[/nq]
Not by me. Nor do I remember an epidemic of such insistences afflicting those I know.
[nq:1]Is this like omitting the comma before the and?[/nq]
That depends on what "this" means and which type of "and" you're referring to. But, to repeat, you don't need a colon to introduce a listing if you can work your way into it grammatically without the colon.
[nq:1]Or have I been living under a rock?[/nq]
I don't know. Except is that moss growing behind your ears?

Bob Lieblich
Posting pointedly

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]For example: I was treated for my condition on Janary 2, 2003; February 2, 2004; and March 2, 2005.[/nq]
You might look in on the thread "Commas after dates", which is more or less contemporaneous.
[nq:1]You'd be better off listing the names in a table: =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 ABC, LLC =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 ZZZ, Inc. =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 XYZ, LP[/nq]
Mind, if it's a bullet-point listing (here faked up with periods), such as
The companies who joined the Northern Network include:

. ABC, LLC;
. ZZZ, Inc.; and,
. XYZ, LP.
it requires, as shown above, proper sentence punctuation just as if the bullets (and formatting) weren't present. Bullet listing is a visual, not a grammatical, tool.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1] You might look in on the thread "Commas after dates", which is more or less contemporaneous. [/nq]
[nq:2]You'd be better off listing the names in a table: ABC, LLC ZZZ, Inc. XYZ, LP[/nq]
[nq:1]Mind, if it's a bullet-point listing (here faked up with periods), such as The companies who joined the Northern Network ... sentence punctuation just as if the bullets (and formatting) weren't present. Bullet listing is a visual, not a grammatical, tool.[/nq]
Here we go again.
In my (never to be published) book, punctuation is not part of grammar. The first rule of writing, superseding all others, is to get the point across. Once that rule is satisfied, one may look to such criteria as grammaticality, brevity, wit, and elegance. If your task is to list something, that task is satisfied if the listing is vertical, one item per line; unless some other rule mandates punctuation at the end of each line, you need none. It's not wrong to do as our friend Eric Owlcroft has done, but I see no advantange to it over my version, bullets or no, and it has the disadvantage of clutter.
Reasonable minds can and do differ.

Bob Lieblich
Claiming to be reasonable

Using Semicolons as a Hard Comma With No Preceding Colon

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬