Originally Posted by
11Bravo
So why didn't it happen now? Because I didn't have to log back in before posting? First time I quoted, I believe I had to log back in. Was definitely on a different page. This time, same page.
Ah, practiced what I preach: Google is your friend:
The conversion of a double quote (") to ItÂ’s is a character encoding error, specifically involving UTF-8 characters being interpreted as Windows-1252 (or ISO-8859-1). The smart apostrophe (’) in UTF-8 is represented by three bytes ($E2$ $80$ $99$), which become three garbage characters (Â, ’, s) when displayed in the wrong encoding.
Key Details on Encoding Errors:
The Cause: Text created with Unicode (UTF-8) is opened or saved in a system using a Western European encoding (like Windows-1252/Latin-1).
The Breakdown: The byte sequence $E2$ $80$ $99$ is intended to be a single smart apostrophe (’), but the incorrect encoding misinterprets $E2$ as  and $80$ as ’, resulting in Â’s.
Common Scenarios: This frequently happens when copying text from modern applications (like Word, web browsers) into older systems, databases, or software that does not support Unicode properly.
Solution: Ensure the document, database, or software is set to UTF-8 encoding
More fully:
That weird transformation (e.g.," becoming ItÂ’s) happens because of a digital "language barrier" called Mojibake—essentially a mismatch in character encoding.
Why it happens:
The Mismatch: Most modern websites use UTF-8 encoding, but older systems or specific software (like Microsoft Word) often use Windows-1252 (also called Western European). Mojibake occurs when a computer reads one encoding as if it were the other.
Smart Quotes: When you type a regular quote ("), many programs auto-convert it into "curly" or "smart" quotes ( ’ ).
The Corruption: In UTF-8, that curly apostrophe is represented by a specific set of three bytes. If a system incorrectly interprets those three bytes using the Windows-1252 "map," it displays them as the characters Â’.
Common Examples:
You typed ........ What you see ........... Why?
’ (Apostrophe) ..... Â’ .................... UTF-8 bytes read as Windows-1252.
— (Em Dash) ....... — .................... The three-byte code for a long dash is misread.
“ (Open Quote) ..... “ ................. Standard "smart quote" encoding error.
How to fix it:
For Readers: Try changing your browser's "Text Encoding" setting to Unicode (UTF-8).
For Creators: Use a "plain text" editor (like Notepad or TextEdit) to strip out fancy formatting before pasting text into a website, or ensure your website header is set to <meta charset="UTF-8">.
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