Tattoo Fail (Semicolon misuse)

by Craig Shrives

Tattoo Fail (Semicolon misuse)

The tattoo below ("Beware; for I am fearless; and therefore powerful.") fails for the following:
  • The semicolons have been used incorrectly.

Read more about semicolons.

Oh, It's Right!

While we cannot condone the use of the semicolons in this tattoo, we should recognize that the text of this tattoo comes from the book "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley. The semicolons are used in the original.

Seriousness of the Mistake (Summary)

This tattoo scores
6/15
as a tattoo fail. (See below.)

Seriousness of the Mistake (Detail)

How bad is the grammar or spelling?
1: It is not considered a mistake by everyone.
2: It is a technical mistake.
3: It is a basic mistake.
Grade:
1
How obvious is the bad grammar or spelling?
1: It will be spotted by pedants only.
2: Most people will know it's a mistake.
3: Virtually everyone will know it's a mistake.
Grade:
2
How visible is the tattoo?
1: It will be hidden most of the time.
2: It can be hidden easily.
3: It will be hard to keep hidden.
Grade:
2
How easily could the tattoo be corrected?
1: It could be corrected easily without any obvious signs of the edit.
2: It could be corrected but the edit would be noticeable.
3: It cannot be corrected without removal.
Grade:
0
What is the quality of the tattoo?
1: It is high quality.
2: It is fair quality.
3: It is low quality.
Grade:
1

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See Also

Run-on errors What are semicolons? List of tattoo fails due to bad grammar or spelling