Sign up for the daily CJR newsletter. The colon is one of the most versatile punctuation marks (and organs). We use it to mark time (he arrived at 3:15 pm), identify ...
They may seem tricky, but they're easy to master. This is probably the best-known way to use a colon. You can use it to introduce a list or series, as in, “I’m excited for my classes this semester: ...