There are two meanings. 1. The punctuation mark that looks like an elevated comma. The most obnoxious (my opinion) case is the expression borrowed from French Mai^tre d' (a shortening of Mai^tre d'ho^tel ). The apostrophe usually occupies the place of something that was dropped. It is ---> It's; do not --->don't, etc. 2 The other meaning is an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem, addressed to a person (often dead or absent), or thing (often personified). From Reader's Digest- Oxford Complete Wordfinder, Pleasantville,N.Y. Montreal (OUP 1996)
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There are two meanings.
1. The punctuation mark that looks like an elevated comma. The most obnoxious (my opinion) case is the expression borrowed from French Mai^tre d' (a shortening of Mai^tre d'ho^tel ). The apostrophe usually occupies the place of something that was dropped. It is ---> It's; do not --->don't, etc.
2 The other meaning is an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem, addressed to a person (often dead or absent), or thing (often personified). From Reader's Digest- Oxford Complete Wordfinder, Pleasantville,N.Y. Montreal (OUP 1996)