; and later on foot

[Maybo]

My curiosity eventually lured me to explore this overlooked city twice: first in a hot air balloon; and later on foot. (Putrajaya: The capital city you've never heard of by Ronan O'Connell)

Can I remove either "and" or "the semi colon"?

 

[tedmc]

I would keep the "and", and use a comma instead of a semi-colon. I think the last bit is too short to use a semi-colon.

I don't think curiosity lures. The interesting/intriguing things about a place would lure you explore it. Curiosity prompts you to do something.

 

[jutfrank]

I don't really understand what you mean by "Can I?"

Why do you want to take somebody else's writing and mess around with it? Leave it alone. Instead, you might ask why the writer decided to write it like that in the first place.

 

[Maybo]

Why is a semi colon used?

 

[emsr2d2]

Instead, you might ask why the writer decided to write it like that in the first place.

Why is a semi colon used?

Note jutfrank's advice in his first reply.

 

[Maybo]

Why did the writer decide to write it like that?

 

[jutfrank]

You can think of a semi-colon as eliciting in the reader a stronger, longer pause than a comma. Perhaps the writer wanted the reader to do that.

 

[tedmc]

You can think of a semi-colon as eliciting in the reader a stronger, longer pause than a comma. Perhaps the writer wanted the reader to do that.

I think Maybo has a valid point there, notwithstanding that the sentence was written by a native. Are we to expect the written work by a native speaker to be perfect?

I don't think the use of a semi-colon is justified as it doesn't fit into any of the uses here.

The closest I can find is the the use of semi-colon in a long, complicated serial list, as in Use No. 3 in the link above. There are only two short items here, which a comma is appropriate. Besides, using a semi-colon as a longer pause is not listed as one of the uses.

I commented about "curiosity" being a lure. A lure is a temptation/bait/attraction to do something. It is the temptation that generates the curiosity to act, rather than curiosity itself, which comes from within a person. So how can we say one's own curiosity lure/tempt/attract one to do something?

 

[jutfrank]

Besides, using a semi-colon as a longer pause is not listed as one of the uses.

The whole point of a semi-colon is that it is asks the reader to break up his speech with a pause that is 'stronger' than a comma and 'weaker' than a period or colon. That's why it's called a semi-colon.

(The nature of the pause elicited by any punctuation mark isn't simply about length—there are various other prosodic effects concerned.)