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Oh, Nan, I feel your pain. Were that I had a dollar for every misplaced semi colon that I read. Personally, I blame grammar check, which seems to want to sprinkle semi colons in the most inappropriate places. But that's different conversation. We are looking for goddesses; and I think I found you one.
To Nan, I give Seshat. Seshat was an Egyptian goddess. She invented writing, so I think we have to lay all responsibility for punctuation on her doorstep. I certainly know that if it were up to me I would have nipped semi colons right in the bud. They really have no use. You can just as easily get by with a period or a comma/conjunction combo. But goddesses have their ways, and--being that they all tend to be drama queens--they usually lean toward excess, hence semi colons and beehive hairdos.
Seshat was called "Mistress of the House of Books," which sounds like the title of an Isabel Allende novel. I would totally read it. It would be about this librarian and all the townspeople who hate her because she owns all the book. Wait. I think that's The Music Man.
Channel this goddess: When grading papers, when writing papers, when wondering if you should use that exclamation point. (You should.)
Need a goddess: I got goddesses! Post a comment or email me and explain what you need or want a goddess for; check back in a week or two and see what you got.
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20 comments:
Oh, how I love my semi-colons! And I think I have a favorite new goddess - Seshat is awesome! :)
Hm, does Seshat work with fiction? Can I channel her as my semi-colon checker (kind of like a spell-checker) for my latest manuscript edit?
Just what I needed . . . my students are doing peer review while I type and I just added a semi-colon to a run-on sentence on a poster someone put up in this classroom.
A goddess for semi-colons. That is rich. I have noticed that there is not neutral position when it comes to semi-colons.
Okay, Nan and Margaret: I shall confess to waiting for the first commenter valiant enough to brave the sacred semi-colon!
I love semicolons. They're subtle. A period's just as good, maybe, but maybe not. It has a different nuance.
This is about me, right? I'm nothing but a constant tangle of semi colons and dashes. Bite; me --
just... (I like ellipses, too.)
No: Hiker, you once told me you don't like ellipses; I'm constantly worried about using them in your presence (but we both like parentheses).
I punctuate to excess. I love some visual flourishes, dashes and embellishments ~ and cannot resist the lure of an excited punctuation mark {and parentheses}!
Lovely post and I found the one about Hecate. :-)
Not true. What I hate are exclamation points. (Ellipsis comes from Ancient Greek and means "Falling short." Isn't that lovely...)
AH: You say that just to spite me!!! I am offended! Offended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seshat would be good for bloggers too! Lots of !!!'s not too many ;;;'s
I'm glad I'm not the only one fond of the semi-colon. On another note, is that a pot leaf sticking out of Seshat's head? Is that to get the creative juices flowing? I should try that. I haven't written in weeks.
gads - it must pain you to wade through my literary musings
pot lief sheltered by a tit - good catch Susan
I would like to add my 2 cents. Seshat is also an "aspect" of Thoth/Tehuti and Maat. Seshat is the sister of Maat, and she used to represent the more mundane side of Maat relating to wealth. abundance and prosperity. Somewhere down the line she was "demoted" to a female aspect of Thoth as just a the letter writer and NOT a goddess wisdom but she is in fact the teacher of Thoth.
HI Bert: Your two cents are much appreciated. Thanks for sharing.
In drawing, an ellipse is a circle drawn in perspective. It is the shape made by the top of a wine glass, for example, when seen at a tilt. It may be as hard for me to draw one accurately as it is to stop using ellipses...!!!
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