Editing Apostrophe (section)

===Smart quotes===
To make punctuation apostrophes easier to enter, [[word processing]] and publishing software often convert typewriter apostrophes to punctuation apostrophes during text entry (at the same time converting opening and closing single and double quotes to their standard left-handed or right-handed forms). A similar facility may be offered on web servers after submitting text in a form field, e.g. on weblogs or free encyclopedias. This is known as the ''smart quotes'' feature; apostrophes and quotation marks that are not automatically altered by computer programs are known as ''dumb quotes''.

Such conversion is not always correct. Smart quotes features often incorrectly convert a leading apostrophe to an opening quotation mark (e.g., in abbreviations of years: ''<span style="font-family: serif">‘</span>29'' rather than the correct ''<span style="font-family:serif">’</span>29'' for the years ''1929'' or ''2029'' (depending on context); or ''<span style="font-family: serif">‘</span>twas'' instead of ''<span style="font-family: serif">’</span>twas'' as the [[archaism|archaic]] abbreviation of ''it was''). Smart quote features also often fail to recognise situations when a [[prime (symbol)|prime]] rather than an apostrophe is needed; for example, incorrectly rendering the latitude 49°&nbsp;{{prime|53}}&nbsp;08″ as 49°&nbsp;53<span style="font-family: serif">’</span>&nbsp;08<span style="font-family: serif">”</span>.

In [[Microsoft Word]] it is possible to turn smart quotes off (in some versions, by navigating through ''Tools'', ''AutoCorrect'', ''AutoFormat as you type'', and then unchecking the appropriate option). Alternatively, typing Control-Z (for ''Undo'') immediately after entering the apostrophe will convert it back to a typewriter apostrophe. In Microsoft Word for Windows, holding down the Control key while typing two apostrophes will produce a single punctuation apostrophe.