Semicolons are becoming increasingly rare; their disappearance should be resisted

Tung Cheung/Shutterstock

A recent study has found a 50% decline in the use of semicolons over the last two decades. The decline accelerates a longterm trend:

In 1781, British literature featured a semicolon roughly every 90 words; by 2000, it had fallen to one every 205 words. Today, there’s just one semicolon for every 390 words.