@Cameron Boyle posted:David, I’m interested by your point about modern convention crippling the semi colon. Would you say that the semi colon I asked about in my original post (although grammatically incorrect) would be deemed acceptable from a modern point of view? In other words, are semi colons often used in those sort of contexts?
Also, if a comma used in its place would take “using ‘migrant’ in relation to people fleeing the Middle East” as its implied subject, does that mean a comma would fail to convey what I am attempting to articulate in the sentence? That is, that everything preceding the comma/semi colon is what further complicates the often blurred distinction. If so, maybe I should avoid the alternative formulation of the sentence proposed earlier?
Hi, Cameron—I actually do consider the semicolon in your original sentence grammatically correct, the only problem being that many modern readers won't accept it, having been taught that semicolons are only used in the two contexts Gustavo mentioned—and, I suspect, not having been exposed to writing from earlier periods of English when the semicolon enjoyed more freedom.
The reason the semicolon is grammatically desirable in your sentence is that you say that "multiple media outlets" have done two things that have "complicated the often blurred distinction between the two terms": they have (i) "opted for 'refugee' when describing those fleeing the invasion" and (ii) used "'migrant' in relation to people fleeing the Middle East."
Because of the comma setting off the second element, there needs to be a greater separation than a comma between the second element and the participial clause ("further complicating . . ."), which might otherwise be understood as relating only to the second element. One way to fix your sentence is simply to delete the comma and change the semicolon to a comma:
- Multiple media outlets have opted for ‘refugee’ when describing those fleeing the invasion despite using ‘migrant’ in relation to people fleeing the Middle East, further complicating the often blurred distinction between the two terms.