# Using \` as an Apostrophe... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163 "2006-11-05T06:22:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/1 "2006-11-05T06:22:39Z")
I’ve seen this usage crop up by two different members in the last day, in which I’ve really never noticed it here on the SDMB. Is using the `character as an apostrophe acceptable? Examples: Didn’t Didn`t <-- WTF I mean it looks the same, but it just doesn't look right at all. Reading words with ` is like reading a passage in all caps, it’s painful. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/2 "2006-11-05T06:37:22Z")
When my keyboard is set to French, that backwards apostrophe pops up when I hit the apostrophe key. Sometimes I don’t notice, and sometimes it’s too much of a pain in the ass to remember how to reset the keyboard or where on the French keyboard I can find the regular apostrophe. Maybe those posters also have a non-English keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/3 "2006-11-05T07:44:07Z")
[QUOTE=Antigen] Maybe those posters also have a non-English keyboard? [/QUOTE] It doesn’t do that on mine, anyway. My keyboard is always set to French, and the apostrophe that comes naturally is the correct one. In fact, I wasn’t able to write a grave accent without letter (which is what **ParentalAdvisory** ’s character is) with my French keyboard. On the other hand, if I change it to English (American), I certainly can: it’s the key just left of ‘1’: `. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/4 "2006-11-05T07:53:12Z")
[QUOTE=severus] It doesn’t do that on mine, anyway. My keyboard is always set to French, and the apostrophe that comes naturally is the correct one. In fact, I wasn’t able to write a grave accent without letter (which is what **ParentalAdvisory** ’s character is) with my French keyboard. On the other hand, if I change it to English (American), I certainly can: it’s the key just left of ‘1’: `. [/QUOTE] Hm. It only happens when I’m using my brother’s laptop, and I was _pretty_ sure it was the apostrophe key giving me the ` thing. I’ll check the settings when I get home, maybe I’m mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/5 "2006-11-05T09:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory] I’ve seen this usage crop up by two different members in the last day, in which I’ve really never noticed it here on the SDMB. Is using the `character as an apostrophe acceptable? Examples: Didn’t Didn`t <-- WTF I mean it looks the same, but it just doesn't look right at all. Reading words with ` is like reading a passage in all caps, it’s painful. [/QUOTE] Its just me trying to replicate the experience of reading a hand written post …honest! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/6 "2006-11-05T17:56:56Z")
Are you sure you’re seeing ` rather than ‘ ? The latter is a single curlyquote, the former is a tilde. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/7 "2006-11-05T18:00:07Z")
Hmm… let’s try that again, shall we? ‘ = option ], endphrase single curlyquote ’ = shift-option ], startphrase single curlyquote. oh and: ` = accent on key shared with tilde ~, not tilde itself of course. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/8 "2006-11-05T20:43:29Z")
I do recall seeing that character used as apostrophe in posts from a South American poster. The name escapes me at the moment. That leads me to belive that it is a function of the different language the keyboard is set to, as Antigen states. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/9 "2006-11-05T22:44:17Z")
Nope. A tilde is this character: ~ ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/10 "2006-11-06T00:48:01Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Nope. A tilde is this character: ~ [/QUOTE] Acknowledged in Post #7 ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/11 "2006-11-06T00:59:42Z")
Drat. Missed that one. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![ShortBus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@ShortBus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShortBus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/12 "2006-11-06T07:33:20Z")
Online, you might occasionally see an apostrophe automatically translated into a grave accent for database reasons. Single quotes typically enclose strings (text). For example, the following command might be used to store your name in a database: INSERT INTO customers (first\_name, last\_name) VALUES (‘Joe’, ‘Public’). You can see the problem when trying to add a good Irish lad to the database: INSERT INTO customers (first\_name, last\_name) VALUES (‘Danny’, ‘O’Toole’). The most commonly accepted workaround to do this is to preface the apostrophe with a backslash, which is silently discarded when the name is pulled back out of the database: INSERT INTO customers (first\_name, last\_name) VALUES (‘Danny’, ‘O’Toole’). However, some developers just automatically change any apostrophes into grave accents and avoid the problem that way, figuring most people won’t recognize the difference. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/13 "2006-11-06T07:44:12Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] Are you sure you’re seeing ` rather than ‘ ? The latter is a single curlyquote, the former is a tilde. [/QUOTE] Now that one of the dopers has come out, the usage is found in the OP of this thread: > **[Fucking REMFS Wearing Winged daggers](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=393188)** > > To all the fucking drivers,storemen,cooks,technicians and pay clerks at J,Hs funeral Thursday !You are fucking crap hats ,REMFS ,non combatents,civvies in uniform NOT soldiers and no way on this fucking earth are you ENTITLED to wear a Winged Dagger... It’s definately the key used by tilde (left of the 1(!) key). I don’t remember the other poster, but it was someone from pacific region, maybe Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-as-an-apostrophe/379163/14 "2006-11-06T14:44:13Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory] Now that one of the dopers has come out, the usage is found in the OP of this thread: > **[Fucking REMFS Wearing Winged daggers](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=393188)** > > To all the fucking drivers,storemen,cooks,technicians and pay clerks at J,Hs funeral Thursday !You are fucking crap hats ,REMFS ,non combatents,civvies in uniform NOT soldiers and no way on this fucking earth are you ENTITLED to wear a Winged Dagger... [/QUOTE] Based on that thread’s OP’s writings, I’d suggest that the use of the grave accent is the least of their punctuational issues. I don’t mean to disparage that OP, but it does make their writing _very_ difficult to read. If they were aiming for a unique and pleasant reading experience, well, they got one out of two. IMHO, of course. On preview, I see that that thread has devolved into a pitting of said punctuation, so I will add no more.