. The "inverted apostrophe" is actually the opening single quotation mark or opening speech mark, often used to begin a direct quote. It is distinct from the apostrophe, which is used to indicate omitted letters in contractions (like "can't") or to show possession (like "Mary's book"). While the opening quotation mark and apostrophe can look similar in some fonts, they serve different purposes in writing. Here's a breakdown: Apostrophe ( ' ): Used for contractions (e.g., "don't," "that's") and possessives (e.g., "the dog's bone," "boys' clothes"). Opening Quotation Mark ( ' or “ ): Used to indicate the beginning of a direct quotation or to enclose titles of works like books or movies. Closing Quotation Mark ( ' or ” ): Used to indicate the end of a direct quotation. Confusion arises because: Some fonts display the opening quotation mark, closing quotation mark, and apostrophe with very similar (or identical) glyphs. Typing on certain keyboards or software may default to using the same character (the apostrophe) for both purposes. In some cases, especially in informal writing or on signs, quotation marks might be used for emphasis, further blurring the lines.
So an upside down apostrophe is equal to quotation marks.
I also found this: & this shows that different way up apostrophes were/are used at the beginning of quotes - and right way up ones used at the end, (this actually rings bells way back in school - i remember learning something like this)
So it looks like someone has just used the wrong apostrophe and not noticed?
@OogieBoogie these multiple people who write messages to me but seem to be the same person all use have: << it‘s >> like this… I wonder what it shows about them
@TradEmily Yes, some typesetting (TeX/LaTeX) allows for different forms and of course keyboards actually intended for other countries/languages use the appropriate forms.
For instance, German quotations were often set off like this:
@SomeMichGuy which language or keyboard would let you do as pictured with the apostrophe. I can’t even make my phone do it: the apostrophe in don’t - it never faces the other way.
