The colon is one of the oldest punctuation marks, rapidly in danger of extinction with the growing popularity of the dash (more on these in a later issue). Yet the colon is a versatile workhorse with many functions including:
- To introduce a list
- To direct the reader’s attention ahead
- To present an example or explanation
- To introduce direct speech, a quotation or a question
One important point to note is that the colon is never followed by a capital letter unless the next word is either a proper noun or the first word of a quotation.
