system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Semicolon: How to?

I'd like to think I paid enough attention in English class to effectively punctuate, but I am lost as to how and when I would ever use a semicolon. Examples would be great.
gpt
Use it to join two closely related thoughts; each half should be able to stand alone as a sentence, but the sum is clearer when they are not fully separated.

You can also use semicolons to separate a list in which individual items contain commas. I've traveled to Bangor, Maine; Paris, Texas; and Memphis, Tennessee.