Here's my take: you should always go for a full Hippo but there are some variations where your opponent will play an early e5, d5, h4 or f5 etc. And you cant simply get a full hippo, at least not right away because white (or black) is making threats. A semi-hippo isn't really an a opening or variation its just the way to describe when you make 1 or 2 moves that aren't part of the hippo before you reach the full set-up. The strategies of a "semi-hippo" is very broad because there are many different semi-hippo's There are some lines in the Austrian attack where you have to play pawn h5 instead of h6 because h6 would be +1.4 for white or sometimes it can be better to play b5 instead of b6 or b4 instead of b3. Another example is: 1. g3 h5 2. Bg2 h4... 3. d3 or e3 is simply not a good move here and you should deviate to a more solid approach. Although, "semi hippo's" can be a choice to be played sometimes others you have to play a semi-hippo in order not to be losing.
How do you define the Semi-Hippo?
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How do you know when it's a semi-Hippo?
Are there any specific strategies associated with the simi-Hippo?
How many variations of the semi-Hippo are there?