I got into a huge fist fight with someone over this question.
Which is/are grammatically correct?
- Show don’t tell
- Show, don’t tell
- Show; don’t tell
Thanks for your help!
I’d favor 3), depending on the situation. Semi-colons are no longer very fashionable, but they’re still useful for those fuller stops. If I wanted something more casual, more colloquial, I might use just the comma.
1), with no punctuation, is just too Gertrude Stein-y.
Technically, not one of those is correct, because they all lack ending punctuation. :eek:
But given a period or exclamation point at the end, I would go for number three. Those are two separate sentences linked together in process, so you must use either a conjunction or a semicolon.
Then again, I haven’t had an English class in quite a while. 
Technically (assuming an added period, as suggested above), 3) is correct. But 2) is perfectly acceptable: the comma has about the most nebulous usage rules in English. 1) is the least correct; I’d at least insert a comma if I were editing a ms. that included that example.
Why not, “Show. Don’t Tell.”?
I agree that some sort of pause is necessary to adequately convey the meaning (so 1) is right out) - but perhaps it would be more effective if you reverse the wording:
Don’t tell; show.
Don’t tell, show.
Don’t tell - show!
It’s true - I’m a fan of the lowly dash.
I didn’t put punctuation at the end of the phrase because I wanted to imply that the sentence either ends or continues and ask whether each example would be correct in either context.
I guess I should just should have said that to begin with!
Also, since the fight was at 3 am, I only have a vague idea of the text the original phrase appeared in.
I said #2 was correct, he #3, so I guess I owe him beer. Damn. Thanks anyway.
Hmmm, SaxFace, your last post changes things. If the examples given aren’t the complete sentence, then #2 could well be the only correct choice, depending on how the rest of the sentence reads:
Show, don’t tell, people that you love them.
Not
Show; don’t tell, people that you love them.
So maybe you don’t owe the guy a beer after all - the correct punctuation depends on the entire sentence, not just the few words in the given phrase.
If the examples were the entire sentence, I’d say that that either the original #2 or #3 is correct, although #2 seems a bit more informal. #1 is just wrong.
scratch1300, “Semi-colons are no longer very fashionable”? :o People who don’t know how to properly use semi-colons are practically the downfall of civilization as we know it. They are the cause of all those comma splices, when a sentence just runs on without a coordinating conjunction, do you know what I mean? Sometimes I get so annoyed, I really hate to see misused commas. It bothers me so much, I wish people who don’t know how to punctuate would pick up a grammar book.
(Please, don’t make me whoosh anyone!) 
My face IS red now, but the one in the previous post is supposed to be an eek!
:eek:
Actually, what you have there is a hyphen. What you want is an em dash, which is traditionally represented online (and in other places where the symbol is not available) as two hyphens together – like this. Some stylebooks like the text to be flush against the em dash–like this–but that’s a matter of house style, or personal preference.
I would go into detail about the differences between the em dash and the en dash, and where exactly the hyphen fits into all of this, but we are veering dangerously far away from the OP, so I will shut up now.
M.A. in English/professor/writer/editor speaking:
#3 is correct.
#2 contains a comma splice.
#1 is a run-on sentence.
Missbunny is right about semicolons; if more people would use them, there wouldn’t be so many comma splices and other errors in writing.
“Show; don’t tell” is a phrase often used in Creative Writing courses and in writers’ workshops. It means that the writer should show a character in action and behavior rather than just telling the reader all about the character. Showing is active and interesting; telling is passive and usually dull.