1 day ago
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Finished 1984 about two months ago, and Orwell uses the colon a lot; even more than he uses the semi colon. And there were a few instances—specifically when he uses a conjunction before the colon—where it confused me. Am I right in saying that a colon should be used to introduce something? An explanation, list, or quotation. Therefore, a colon should not be used after a conjunction, because a conjunction adds information to something, whereas a colon clarifies something.
In 1984:
"Such a thing as an independent political movement was outside her imagination: and in any case the Party was invincible."
"It was true that she regarded the whole war as a sham: but apparently she had not even noticed the name of the enemy had changed."
(Both quotes from chapter five, part two).
Animal Farm (This quote is from the ending of animal farm, so spoiler warning):
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which."
I've also seen the colon, conjunction combo used in Shakespeare's Othello and Percy Bysshe Shelley's Mutability.
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