I think we should have a name for the often undue examination and analysis of colon/semicolon usage in machine languages. I volunteer the name "colonoscopy."
And the obsession with inserting colons into things (and vice-verse) should be called "colonialism".
Your point is funny but if you're not anal-retentive about the syntax you get monstrosity such as the CSV-escape rule instead of the passwd-escape rule..