colon

KOH-lun

meaning in plain English

A punctuation mark (:) you put before a list or an explanation.

Picture a colon opening a gate — the list marches in after the colon.

for example

You use a colon before a list, as in: bring three things: bread, cheese, and apples.

A colon tells readers that more detail is coming. Why put a colon after bring these? Because the colon signals the list is next: bread, cheese, and apples.