# Contractions: can't we all agree the apostrophe needs to be retired? \[Edited\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractions-cant-we-all-agree-the-apostrophe-needs-to-be-retired-edited/695378 "2014-08-12T16:45:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractions-cant-we-all-agree-the-apostrophe-needs-to-be-retired-edited/695378/101 "2014-08-18T17:47:04Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > There’s no point in doing this until we tackle the much bigger and important project of transitioning to a consistently phonetic alphabet. In the first place, you mean phonemic orthography. But I only mention that to be a jerk. In the second place: Assuming you’re serious: do we use Received Pronunciation, General American, or Australian English as the basis for this alphabet? In the third place, do you want to add extra letters to the alphabet (there’s not enough letters now for a one-to-one correspondence with our phonemes), use diacritics more, or subtract some phonemes? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractions-cant-we-all-agree-the-apostrophe-needs-to-be-retired-edited/695378/102 "2014-08-18T17:52:14Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Actually when first reading this, my thought is thieves can’t what in you my house. Now this is in the context of apostrophe use so I’m thinking that your single ’ is misplaced. Had I encountered the sentence in another context, I’m not sure how I’d have read it. The apostrophe is correct. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractions-cant-we-all-agree-the-apostrophe-needs-to-be-retired-edited/695378.md?page=5)