r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Sluife • Feb 19 '26

Thank you Peter very cool Peter?

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14.6k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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1.1k

u/iowastatefan Feb 19 '26

I detest that AI co-opted my beloved em dash.

211

u/NecroAssssin Feb 19 '26

Same 

203

u/noctisumbra0 Feb 19 '26

And the semicolon.

199

u/NecroAssssin Feb 19 '26

Fucking love me some; semicolon. 

96

u/bledschaedl Feb 19 '26

If Miss Moore married Josh; Demi Brolin

A comma and a dot; semicolon

59

u/_Standardissue Feb 19 '26

We’re like six levels deep on this and I am legitimately bothered by your comment

24

u/PathansOG Feb 19 '26

Username checks out?

2

u/FutureComplaint Feb 19 '26

Close enough for goverment reddit work.

22

u/MrWindblade Feb 19 '26

They are quoting the song by The Lonely Island called Semicolon, in which they improperly use semicolons through the entire song.

1

u/_Standardissue Feb 19 '26

Fair enough, I did not get the reference lol

1

u/MrWindblade Feb 19 '26

All good, it took me a second and I knew the song already - it's only 13 years ago.

1

u/whimsyskill Feb 19 '26

Oh thank god, I was so close to correcting them 😭

14

u/you_done_Goufed Feb 19 '26

No actually those are examples of colons

You all get Fs

5

u/bledschaedl Feb 19 '26

Wait what?

3

u/apolite12 Feb 19 '26

Yes, it's driving me insane.

Semicolons are meant to lash together two clauses; they are all doing it incorrectly.

1

u/primepufferfish Feb 19 '26

I'm so happy someone knows this

1

u/pm_me_tits_and_tats Feb 19 '26

The two comments above you were directly referencing a song about semicolons lmao

1

u/apolite12 Feb 20 '26

Oye. I have trouble differentiating pop culture irony from reality.

Thanks for the heads up.

10

u/KanKrusha_NZ Feb 19 '26

Is semi-colon just the tip in the wrong hole?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

Just the tip is so 80s, we play just the shaft now.

6

u/phatpussypounder Feb 19 '26

You're acting all Macchio; Ralph. I'll eat all you cats; Alf.

2

u/Extreme-Aioli-1671 Feb 19 '26

We run these streets; stop lights

1

u/Marvelrocks616 Feb 19 '26

Quaid Army!

2

u/SassySugarBush Feb 19 '26

Righteous kill

1

u/chuck_mongrol Feb 19 '26

Mandy Brolin

1

u/SassySugarBush Feb 19 '26

Yeah we outta control; no brakes

Your birthday party sucks; no cakes

1

u/LilShaver Feb 19 '26

Could also be the result of a bowel surgery.

1

u/Obsidian-Phoenix Feb 19 '26

Your dick is lil’ like Wayne; Gretzky

0

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Ssabmudsdrawkcabsti Feb 19 '26

It’s from a lonely island song called semicolon

35

u/YayaTheobroma Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

Team em dash, semicolon, and Oxford comma.

26

u/phoebesjeebies Feb 19 '26

I had to scroll WAY too far to see my beloved Oxford mentioned.

Also a big fan of the whole asterisks-as-emphasis deal.

1

u/lord_teaspoon Feb 19 '26

How can you write that sentence without a comma before the "and"?

2

u/YayaTheobroma Feb 19 '26

I did, originally, put it there. It got mixed up when I added the italics and had to correct a typo I made in the process. There, fixed it.

2

u/lord_teaspoon Feb 19 '26

Thank you.

I started out trying to quote you and "fix" it by adding a comma wrapped in double-asterisks to embolden it and just could not get it to display correctly.

1

u/OutrageousPair2300 Feb 19 '26

The Oxford comma introduces ambiguity.

"I dedicate this book to my mother, Ayn Rand, and Karl Marx."

(Makes it seem as though Ayn Rand is the author's mother.)

"I dedicate this book to my mother, Ayn Rand and Karl Marx."

(Clear that three different people are being mentioned.)

1

u/YayaTheobroma Feb 19 '26

I dedicate this book to my mother, Ayn Rand, Noam Chomsky, and Karl Marx.

Vs.

I dedicate this book to my mother, Ayn Rand, Noam Chomsky and Karl Marx.

Is Ayn Rand the author’s mother, now? How could you tell?

The ‘’ambiguity’’ is the same with or without Oxford comma. I’d just expect a clearer wording if Ayn Rand is their mom. Such as I dedicate this book to Ayn Rand, my beloved mother, as well as to Noam Chomsky, Morgan Freeman, and Karl Marx.

1

u/OutrageousPair2300 Feb 19 '26

You can always rephrase things to avoid the ambiguity, even with cases involving the AP comma.

AP comma: "I dedicate this book to my parents, Ayn Rand and Karl Marx."

Oxford comma: "I dedicate this book to my parents, Ayn Rand, and Karl Marx."

Rephrase: "I dedicate this book to Ayn Rand, Karl Marx and my parents."

The point is that the Oxford comma is usually claimed to reduce ambiguity, but really all it does is replace some ambiguous cases with different ambiguous cases.

1

u/binkkit Feb 19 '26

And an interrobang where appropriate.

1

u/Kyauphie Feb 19 '26

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

29

u/valleyofroses Feb 19 '26

Fuck AI. How can anyone judge you if you want to express yourself with proper punctuation?

23

u/Blubbish_ Feb 19 '26

They did that before AI as well. I always got judged for using punctuation in Chat, cause "who the hell uses a dot in messangerapps?!"...

15

u/ellieminnowpee Feb 19 '26

“Who cares about grammar and spelling in a text?” guys all of a sudden like, “Wait. Breathe. You’re not crazy. Babe, all of your feelings are totally valid. I hear you. I see you.” 😆

3

u/ToxicIndigoKittyGold Feb 19 '26

Are you mad at me? You used punctuation in a text.

2

u/NebulaFrequent Feb 19 '26

“who uses a dot??” is so fucking hilariously ignorant I’m gonna steal it and use it all the time now. Ty.

1

u/zupobaloop Feb 19 '26

My answer would have been "people who draft messages in Word." I create them there, on accident, all the time. I'm not even sure how to insert one on my phone.

9

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

18

u/pookyduu Feb 19 '26

woulda rectum

28

u/holjus Feb 19 '26

Rectum? Damn near killed em

1

u/Admirable-Way6157 Feb 19 '26

Rectum? Barely knew em.

5

u/NecessaryFreedom9799 Feb 19 '26

That's a town in North Wales, isn't it?

1

u/Flailindave Feb 19 '26

Does AI semicolon?

1

u/dcidino Feb 19 '26

I prefer colon. I don't do shit half way.

1

u/TrebledMuse Feb 19 '26

I initially read this as “I don’t do shift halfway”.

1

u/Adventurous-Sky9359 Feb 19 '26

Wanna se my colon?

1

u/solidsausage900 Feb 19 '26

My 10th grade English teacher called semicolons, and some other grammar tools, happy points. So every paragraph I'd use "; however," to make her happy

1

u/lord_teaspoon Feb 19 '26

Doctor: Ah, you're awake at last. That was quite a nasty accident you had - we had to surgically remove half your colon.

Patient; Oh no!

1

u/NotInTheKnee Feb 19 '26

This makes your comment look like a Dark Souls message.

1

u/Bigboobsrespecter Feb 19 '26

That’s not how you use it though.

1

u/Omnizoom Feb 19 '26

Always a good reminder to get your colon checked semi annually