re = /(?:\w+::\w+(?:\(\))?|\p{L}+(?:[-'_$]\p{L}+)*)(*SKIP)(*F)|[^\p{L}\s]/m
str = '# Re-loading pkgdown while it\'s running causes weird behaviour with # the context cache don\'t
# Needs to handle NA for desc::desc_get()
# Update href of toc anchors , use "-" instead "."
# Keep something$col or here_you::must_stay'
subst = ''
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html