I agree with Paul. In addition to the references Paul already cited, the notes for U+2019 RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK in the Unicode NamesList.txt file (used in code charts) say rather clearly, “this is the preferred character to use for apostrophe.”
In decent English-language typography, apostrophe and closing single quote don’t merely “have a (kind of) similar appearance”; they are virtually identical in appearance. You would be hard-pressed to find any person, except perhaps a professional type designer, who could describe the difference. Creating an artificial typographical distinction between “straight” apostrophe and “curly” single quote has no precedent in typography or in any character set, legacy or modern, and we should not invent such a convention here. If “all that matters is what its appearance ends up being,” then using U+2019 for both is the obviously correct decision. -- Doug Ewell, CC, ALB | Lakewood, CO, US | ewellic.org
