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Old 10-21-2012, 11:53 AM   #12 (permalink)
Trollheart
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Don't think so. A colon usually leads onto the next part of the sentence and refers back to it, as in "Things to do in Brussels: visit landmarks". It's (to my recollection anyway) when you have a direct followon from the first part of the sentence to the other, when it's like saying this leads to that. A semicolon is more a break in the sentence that is temporary, so not a full stop, which would completely end a sentence, as in this: "He was very tired; he hadn't had much sleep." That's how I understand it anyway. The full colon points like a marker to the second part of the sentence, whereas a semicolon just pauses it.

The way I read it is a colon says "Hey! Look at this next bit!" whereas the semi-colon says "don't leave yet, there's more."

I know, you'll probably quote a wiki article, and maybe I'm wrong, but this is how I remember it.
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