Other critics have objected to certain innovations in spelling, such as "ca’n’t", "wo’n’t", "traveler". In reply, I can only plead my firm conviction that the popular usage is wrong. As to "ca’n’t", it will not be disputed that, in all other words ending in "n’t", these letters are an abbreviation of "not"; and it is surely absurd to suppose that, in this solitary instance, "not" is represented by "‘t"! In fact "can’t" is the proper abbreviation for "can it", just as "is’t" is for "is it". Again, in "wo’n’t", the first apostrophe is needed, because the word "would" is here abridged into "wo": but I hold it proper to spell "don’t" with only one apostrophe, because the word "do" is here complete.

As to such words as "traveler", I hold the correct principle to be, to double the consonant when the accent falls on that syllable; otherwise to leave it single. This rule is observed in most cases (e.g. we double the "r" in "preferred", but leave it single in "offered"), so that I am only extending, to other cases, an existing rule. I admit, however, that I do not spell "parallel", as the rule would have it; but here we are constrained, by the etymology, to insert the double "l".

Lewis Carroll