Wordpress - Safe to disable wptexturize?

wptexturize() (in wp-includes/formatting.php) tries to convert typewriter quotes " and ' into typographically correct pendants like “ or «, depending on current translation files.

If you cannot type correct quotes, you should not disable it.

There are some related replacements for dashes and ellipsis (not localized for whatever reason).

All these replacement are done with expensive regexes, and they are not really safe. <samp>$var["foo"]</samp> for example will be changed, but it shouldn’t.

Disabling it does no harm, the function is not essential for anything else.

See also: Ticket #19550 Please provide option to disable wptexturize entirely