Less hard than you might think.
A colon introduces what's going to follow: an example, a list, etc. These are the things that grind my gears: A, B, and C.
A semicolon is a break in thought, kind of like a period, except it lets you still keep things as one sentence. So I might use it; you might not.
It can also remove ambiguities in lists by being kind of a "harder" break than a comma. So to say (A, B, & C), (D, E, & F), and G - but keeping the line clear between those two groups of 3 as separate entities without blurring up where the lines fall, you'd punctuate A, B, and C; D, E, and F; and G.
Please don't have anybody kill you ;-)
Caption this Meme
