When shortening words in informal expressions, punctuation should reflect the letters that have been removed. In phrases such as Fish ’n’ Chips or Rock ’n’ Roll, the word and is abbreviated by omitting both the initial a and the final d. Because letters are dropped from both sides, the abbreviation takes apostrophes on each side of the n.

In some well-known titles, only one apostrophe appears in similar constructions, even though two would more accurately reflect the omitted letters. Additionally, because and would not normally be capitalised in a title, the abbreviated form would typically remain lowercase. That said, abbreviated forms are inherently informal and often guided by stylistic preference rather than strict convention.

A different pattern appears when only one part of a word is removed. In Sweet Child o’ Mine, the abbreviation replaces the final letter of of, so a single apostrophe is used before the shortened form. The placement of the apostrophe therefore depends on which letters are omitted and whether the contraction affects the beginning, end, or both sides of the word.