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... A study suggests UK authors are taking Vonnegut's advice to heart; the semicolon seems to be in terminal decline, with its usage in English books plummeting by almost half in two decades " from one appearing in every 205 words in 2000 to one use in every 390 words today.

Further research by Lisa McLendon, author of The Perfect English Grammar Workbook, found 67% of British students never or rarely use the semicolon. Just 11% of respondents described themselves as frequent users.

Linguistic experts at the language learning software Babbel, which commissioned the original research, were so struck by their findings that they asked McLendon to give the 500,000-strong London Student Network a 10-question multiple-choice quiz on the semicolon. She found more than half of respondents did not know or understand how to use it.

As defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English, the semicolon is "a punctuation mark indicating a pause, typically between two main clauses, that is more pronounced than that indicated by a comma".

It is commonly used to link together two independent but related clauses, and is particularly useful for juxtaposition or replacing confusing extra commas in lists where commas already exist " or where a comma would create a splice.

It first appeared in the work of Italian scholar and printer Aldus Pius Manutius the Elder in 1494 but, despite its longevity, has long been marmite grammar.

Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, has castigated it as "dangerously habit-forming". She added: "Many writers hooked on semicolons become an embarrassment to their families and friends." ...