Correct way to spell "young'un"? [closed]

As slang, this phrase:

Since I was a young'un...

Is there an accepted way to abbreviate the last word there?

Solution 1:

Harold Wentworth, American Dialect Dictionary (1944) has an entry for

young one, young'un, youngin, yo'ng-un, youngern, n. A child.

with citations to instances of multiple additional spellings as well between 1840 and 1941.

Since the spellings in all instances except "young one" are imitative of the way people pronounce the term in spoken English and since Merriam-Webster (at least) shows no inclination to weigh in on the relative popularity of the various spellings, I think you're probably safe with any formulation that strikes your fancy, though my guess is that young'un is the most common spelling.