Don't worry this isn't a posting about my inner workings!

After the recent fiasco over the use and over-use of the exclamation mark I got thinking about punctuation marks (as you do!).

I remember taking English Grammar at school and having to punctuate lengthy passages. At the time I simply went through the exercises and can remember hating doing them. How I wish I'd taken more interest.

Now I find I don't remember the rules of when to use a colon or semi-colon so I thought I'd better investigate.

So in a nutshell:

Colons :

Colons are used to notify the reader that what follows (a statement) clarifies, defines, or explains what was mentioned or referred to before.

You should use colons to

Present a long quotation for instance;

At the March on Washington Martin Luther King stated:

"The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom."

Use colons to separate chapter and verse in biblical passages.

We studied Genesis 7:1-24 in Bible class today.

Use colons to separate titles and subtitles;
American Voices: Multicultural Literacy and Critical Thinking

Colons are used in the introduction of a definition;
Persistent: continue despite problems

Use colons to present a list of items

Please bring the following items with you:
Beach towel, umbrella, sunglasses, bathing suit, and sunscreen

To present a series of words
She planted numerous flowers in her garden geraniums, daises, roses, sunflowers.

Use colons to follow salutation in a business letter
Dear Miss Wallace:
Dear Editor:

Use colons to express time, the colon should be placed in between hours and minutes

The exchange student will be here tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
The party will start at 4:50 p.m.
The club does not close until 5:50am

Semicolons ;

Semicolons are used to express a close relation between sentences.

Use semicolons in sentences where three or more items are mentioned and followed by a comma.

Everyone that is going on the trip should bring a cold lunch, a beach towel; and a change of clothes.

Speaking tonight are actor, Don Cheadle, actress, Angelina Jolie; and author Maya Angelou.

Use semicolons to join two complete, simple, sentences together that are close in relation for example
Yesterday it was extremely hot; so we all went to the beach to cool off.

The young boy is very smart; he finished the entire test within 30 minutes

Macaroni and cheese were served to the students on Thursday; Friday the children will be served pizza.

Use semicolon in front of conjunctive adverbs that connect two simple sentences, this is done to make clear relationship between two closely related sentences.

It was raining very hard today; therefore, tomorrow will we take the children to the park.

The young boy failed to stop his car at the red light; consequently, a huge accident took place early Tuesday morning.

Take notice of the format when using the semicolon in this type of sentence, the format includes: (semicolon+ conjunctive adverb+ comma.)

Now all I have to do is remember and that's the irritating bit!!!