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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage

A puzzling apostrophe.

The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like "ain't") which has a standard spelling. It's an entry in a number of online dictionaries, although surprisingly not in either the Merriam-Webster online dictionary at www.m-w.com or the 11th Collegiate. In yesterday's *St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press,* on page A22, appeared a full-page ad for Rainbow Foods, a supermarket chain. An anthropomorphized pear was speaking to an anthropomorphized carrot, saying "Wanna' get fresh?"

So what's the deal with the apostrophe?

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com
  

Top answer

[nq:1]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like "ain't") which has a standard spelling. It's an entry in ... [/nq] Sounds like a heroic example of 'greengrocer's *** apostrophe' (*best carrot's sold here).

  • [nq:1]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like "ain't") which has a standard spelling.
  • It's an entry in ...
  • [/nq] Sounds like a heroic example of 'greengrocer's *** apostrophe' (*best carrot's sold here).
  • It's comforting to know 'wanna' isn't in MW.
  • DCC
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44 Answers
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[nq:1]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like "ain't") which has a standard spelling. It's an entry in ... An anthropomorphized pear was speaking to an anthropomorphized carrot, saying "Wanna' get fresh?" So what's the deal with the apostrophe?[/nq]
Sounds like a heroic example of 'greengrocer's *** apostrophe' (*best carrot's sold here).
It's comforting to know 'wanna' is
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"Raymond S. Wise" (Email Removed) wrote on 16 Jan 2004:
[nq:1]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like "ain't") which has a standard spelling. It's an entry in ... An anthropomorphized pear was speaking to an anthropomorphized carrot, saying "Wanna' get fresh?" So what's the deal with the apostrophe?[/nq]
Wel'l, if'n I had'da put in'n apostrophe, I'd stick it in'na mid'dle
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[nq:2]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like ... "Wanna' get fresh?" So what's the deal with the apostrophe?[/nq]
[nq:1]Wel'l, if'n I had'da put in'n apostrophe, I'd stick it in'na mid'dle betwe'en the two "n"s in "wan'na" to show the mis'sing "t".[/nq]
If'n you're gonn'a do this, you've gott'a stick it after the two "n"s, like so: "wann'a".

Mike Nitabach
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Michael Nitabach (Email Removed) wrote on 16 Jan 2004:
[nq:1]If'n you're gonn'a do this, you've gott'a stick it after the two "n"s, like so: "wann'a".[/nq]
I tried it that way, but it didn't look right.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.
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[nq:2]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like ... "Wanna' get fresh?" So what's the deal with the apostrophe?[/nq]
[nq:1]Sounds like a heroic example of 'greengrocer's *** apostrophe' (*best carrot's sold here). It's comforting to know 'wanna' isn't in MW. DCC[/nq]
I don't find it comforting, I find it disturbing. They don't have "wanna," but they have "wanna-be" in the on
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[nq:2]It's comforting to know 'wanna' isn't in MW.[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't find it comforting, I find it disturbing. They don't have "wanna," but they have "wanna-be" in the online ... in every general dictionary including "college" dictionaries and in large bilingual dictionaries: The English section of my *Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary* has both.[/nq]
Collins has both, as well. Interestin
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[nq:1]On 16 Jan 2004, Raymond S. Wise wrote[/nq]
[nq:2]I don't find it comforting, I find it disturbing. They ... The English section of my *Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary* has both.[/nq]
[nq:1]Collins has both, as well. Interestingly, they classify "wanna" as a representation of dialect, but gonna" as slang.[/nq]
It looks like they've both been around for awhile: The *Encarta World
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[nq:1]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like "ain't") which has a standard spelling. It's an entry in ... An anthropomorphized pear was speaking to an anthropomorphized carrot, saying "Wanna' get fresh?" So what's the deal with the apostrophe?[/nq]
I see that now and then. It seems to mean that the word or its spelling isn't standard.

Jerry Friedman
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[nq:2]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like ... "Wanna' get fresh?" So what's the deal with the apostrophe?[/nq]
[nq:1]Wel'l, if'n I had'da put in'n apostrophe, I'd stick it in'na mid'dle betwe'en the two "n"s in "wan'na" to show the mis'sing "t".[/nq]
There's a 't' missing? Who knew?

John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply
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[nq:2]The word "wanna" is one of those nonstandard terms (like ... "Wanna' get fresh?" So what's the deal with the apostrophe?[/nq]
[nq:1]I see that now and then. It seems to mean that the word or its spelling isn't standard. Jerry Friedman[/nq]
The spelling "wanna" is a standard spelling of a nonstandard term, as can be seen by the fact that it is an entry in so many dictionaries. That is

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