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Q&A Using colons and semi-colons in dialogue

Colons are fine because they represent a stop, the same as an m-dash. I would hesitate to use a semi-colon in dialogue because to me it's a bookish piece of punctuation. It gives the reader a visua...

posted 9y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:31Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/19322
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T04:42:02Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/19322
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T04:42:02Z (about 5 years ago)
Colons are fine because they represent a stop, the same as an m-dash. I would hesitate to use a semi-colon in dialogue because to me it's a bookish piece of punctuation. It gives the reader a _visual_ guide that two indepdendent clauses are connected. (I would never, however, use a comma splice instead.)

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2015-10-13T10:06:15Z (about 9 years ago)
Original score: 1