High Semicolonic

What’s that I see in this Delta Air Lines newspaper ad? Could it be … ?

“This Is New York; We Need to Look Good.” New York Times, Page A8, Oct. 17, 2011.

Yes, friends, it’s a correctly used semicolon in a newspaper ad—a very rare bird indeed.

Hard-working semicolons play many roles in sentence-building. (For a summary, read Grammar Girl.) Here, the semicolon connects two closely related independent clauses. The copywriter could have used a period, which would have been equally correct; but it would have created a more staccato rhythm instead of gentle undulation. The latter is more appropriate to an airline, I’d say.

Unfortunately, what we’re more likely to see in ads is the comma fault (also called the comma splice), in which a comma weakly struggles to bridge two independent clauses. I’ve faulted Coca-Cola ads for their comma faults.

Below the headline, the Delta copy gave me more joy:

At LaGuardia, we’re starting over with a brand new Delta Sky Club®, locally influenced restaurants, and revamped gate areas with iPads that let you order food right to your table (and play games while you wait).

I don’t care about the iPads: it’s the serial comma after “restaurants” that made my heart swell with happiness. Granted, the serial comma is a style choice, not a black-and-white rule, but it’s a choice I happen to prefer. (It helps with clarity, always a Good Thing.)

I was also pleased not to see a hyphen between “locally” and “influenced”—an all-too-common error. Adverbs ending in -ly never take hyphens.

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One more cheer for Delta: on the website, the customer-feedback section is labeled “Comment/Complaint.” Good for Delta for acknowledging that customers are sometimes dissatisfied.

Comments

[rootlesscosmo]

Emboldened by your headline, I will disclose that several years ago I underwent a surgical procedure that left me, for four months, with two semi-colons. I'm now restored to ownership of a complete :.(I will understand if this comment doesn't get past moderation.)

[Jill]

Yesssss! Semicolon plus serial comma — in a single ad, no less. Literacy lives.

And continued good health to rootlesscosmo, he/she of the successful colon splice...

[Nick]

Thank you. This is a wonderful post for me. The links are great and I can never have too many examples of "correct" semicolons.

[Nancy Davis Kho]

So now I'm confused, because I always used a serial comma which I understood was called the Oxford Comma (the title of one of my very favorite Vampire Weekend songs, by the way.) Then I read that it has been rendered obsolete. So I have diligently been UNtraining myself in the ways of the serial comma. But if I understand you correctly, it's a personal choice?

Also: the semicolon has always been my favorite punctuation mark. Thanks for giving it its due.

[Nancy Friedman]

@Nancy: Yes, the serial comma is the same as the Oxford comma. It most definitely is NOT “obsolete.” It isn’t used in Associated Press (daily newspaper) style—space saving?—but is “strongly recommended” by Chicago Manual of Style (book publishing).

As I said in the post, it’s a style choice. See Apple.com’s content for consistent, correct use of the serial comma in marketing copy.

[Catherine]

Thank you Nancy for yet another great post. Delta is good at using semi-colons, but I believe the period after 'wait' should be outside the brackets, not inside.

[Nancy Friedman]

@Catherine: Thanks for your close reading! The error was mine, not Delta's (typing too fast...). I've fixed it now.

[Alan, Madison WI]

Kudos to Delta on a rare case of corporate literacy. Now, if only they could work on improving their customer service...