contractions - What does "apostrophe s" stand for in "What's it all mean"?


I heard someone on a TV show say:



What's it all mean?



As far as I know, 's could be the short form of has and is. But in this case, it seems more like to be the short form of does. Am I correct?



Answer



As the chart of English contractions on Wikipedia points out, 's can be used in place of does (as well as is, has, was and as).


It can also be used to represent the entirely unrelated us, as in let's.


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