Editing Apostrophe (section)

===Apostrophe showing omission===
An apostrophe is commonly used to indicate omitted characters, normally letters:
* It is used in [[contraction (grammar)|contractions]], such as ''can't'' from ''cannot'', ''it's'' from ''it is'' or ''it has'', and ''I'll'' from ''I will'' or ''I shall''.<ref>In reports of very informal speech ''<nowiki />'s'' may sometimes represent ''does'': "Where's that come from?"</ref>
* It is used in [[abbreviation]]s, as ''gov't'' for ''government''. It may indicate omitted numbers where the spoken form is also capable of omissions, as ''<nowiki />'70s'' for ''1970s'' representing ''seventies'' for ''nineteen-seventies''. In modern usage, apostrophes are generally omitted when letters are removed from the start of a word, particularly for a [[compound word]]. For example, it is not common to write ''<nowiki />'bus'' (for ''omnibus''), ''<nowiki />'phone'' (''telephone''), ''<nowiki />'net'' (''Internet''). However, if the shortening is unusual, dialectal or archaic, the apostrophe may still be used to mark it (e.g., ''<nowiki />'bout'' for ''about'', ''<nowiki />'less'' for ''unless'', ''<nowiki />'twas'' for ''it was''). Sometimes a misunderstanding of the original form of a word results in a non-standard contraction. A common example: ''<nowiki />'til'' for ''until'', though ''till'' is in fact the original form, and ''until'' is derived from it.
**The spelling ''fo'c's'le'', contracted from the nautical term ''forecastle'', is unusual for having three apostrophes. The spelling ''bo's'n's'' (from ''boatswain's''), as in ''Bo's'n's Mate'', also has three apostrophes, two showing omission and one possession. ''Fo'c's'le'' may also take a possessive ''s''&nbsp;– as in ''the fo'c's'le's timbers''&nbsp;– giving four apostrophes in one word.<ref>[[SOED]] gives ''fo'c's'le'' as the only shortened form of ''forecastle'', though others are shown in [[OED]]. SOED gives ''bo's'n'' as one spelling of ''bosun'', itself a variant of ''boatswain''.</ref> A word which formerly contained two apostrophes is ''sha'n't ''for ''shall not'', examples of which may be found in the older works of [[P. G. Wodehouse]] and "Frank Richards" ([[Charles Hamilton (writer)|Charles Hamilton]]), but this has been superseded by ''shan't''.
**Shortenings with more apostrophes, such as ''y'all'dn't've'' ([[y'all]] wouldn't have), are possible, particularly in [[Southern American English|Southern US dialects]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Can You Have Multiple Contractions in the Same Word? (Video) |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/contractions-with-more-than-two-or-three-words-triple-contractions |website=merriam-webster.com |access-date=17 April 2019 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415180746/https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/contractions-with-more-than-two-or-three-words-triple-contractions |url-status=live}}</ref>
*It is sometimes used when the normal form of an inflection seems awkward or unnatural; for example, ''KO'd'' rather than ''KOed'' (where ''KO'' is used as a verb meaning "to knock out"); "''a spare [[pince-nez]]'d man''" (cited in [[OED]], entry for "pince-nez"; ''pince-nezed'' is also in citations).
*An apostrophe's function as possessive or contractive can depend on the grammatical context:
**We rehearsed for Friday's opening night. (''We rehearsed for the opening night on Friday.'')
**We rehearsed because Friday's opening night. (''We rehearsed because Friday is opening night.'' "Friday's" here is a contraction of "Friday is".)
*[[Eye dialect]]s use apostrophes in creating the effect of a non-standard pronunciation.
*Apostrophes to omit letters in place names are common on British road signs when space does not allow for the full name{{snd}} for example, [[Wolverhampton]] abbreviated as "W'hampton" and [[Kidderminster]] as "K'minster".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5285894,-2.3816704,3a,75y,283.86h,85.53t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1stlcDS82yOTOXHKVwGQdc6g!2e0 |title=Sign on the A458 |work=Google Maps, street view |access-date=20 August 2020 |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726124416/https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5285894,-2.3816704,3a,75y,283.86h,85.53t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1stlcDS82yOTOXHKVwGQdc6g!2e0 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*The [[United States Board on Geographic Names]], while discouraging possessive apostrophes in place names, allows apostrophes indicating omission, as in "Lake O' the Woods", or when normally present in a surname, as in "O'Malley Draw".<ref>{{Citation |title=Principles, Policies, and Procedures: Domestic Geographic Names |publisher=U.S. Board on Geographic Names |date=December 2016 |url=https://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/pubs/DNC_PPP_DEC_2016_V.2.0.pdf |access-date=2 April 2020 |archive-date=4 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804192010/https://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/pubs/DNC_PPP_DEC_2016_V.2.0.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>