So, semicolons should be used to separate items in complex lists. But what if only one item contains a comma and that item is placed at the end of the list? For example:
The body incorporated cheese and chocolate into its recommended daily diet, emphasized the importance of sugar, and encouraged people to eat apples, bananas, and celery.
Surely no ambiguity exists here. It seems unnecessary to me to use semicolons in such instances, but a colleague disagrees. Thoughts?
Best Answer
I agree with you, so I also wouldn't. We use semicolons in lists when we already have commas within a sentence for smaller separations and need the semicolon to show bigger separations, the operative word being need. In the sentence you've provided, there's no ambiguity, so there's no need. That said, I wouldn't fault someone for using semicolons in this sentence either, for your friend is right in so much as a valid case can be made for it, not one that I myself would employ, but also one that I would certainly not deny as I could see how some might say there is a need simply by having a smaller list exist within the larger list.
http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/commas/how-to-punctuate-between-sentences-using-commas-semicolons-and-colons/