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Language

The Great White Fleet of the United States Navy, 1907 -- We need a fleet of spacecraft to open “This New Ocean” of space

Let’s Argue About The Right Things

We seem to be in one of those periods in which basic reasons for doing what we do as a nation are called into question

Can a letter in your name truly affect your purchasing habits?

Does Your Last Name Affect Your Buying Habits?

Researchers claim that people with names at the end of the alphabet respond more quickly to purchasing opportunities

Marquee languages definitely serve their purposes. But when you learn a minority language, like Romansh or Sioux, you become a member of a select group.

Spoken Like a Native

Learning a minority language opens doors—and hearts

"Paionian—which was spoken in Illyria (or possibly Thrace) some 2,2000 years ago—is one of many languages that have survived only as fragments."

Fluent in 60 Seconds

Learning a new language is a breeze—as long as it’s Paionian

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New Language Found in India

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“Word, Shout, Song” Opens at the Anacostia Community Museum

An American speaks to a group of French nationals and tries to purge his vocabulary of American idioms.

A Novice’s Guide to Foreign Idioms

If you think learning foreign idioms is easy, just try combing the giraffe

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The World’s Strangest Scientific Names

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Understanding the Lasting Allure of the Rosetta Stone

An Egyptologist explains the importance of the artifact

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In the Name of the Law

How to win arguments without really trying

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Say What?

In an era of global communications, regional dialects are hanging in there, y’all

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Global Wording

If you can’t say it in English, just borrow le mot juste

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Playing by Ear

People say the darndest things. At least I think they do

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Label Babel

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Verbal Shorthand

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Fire Deportment

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What’s in a Name? Sometimes More Than Meets the Eye

Jokes, puns, even insults — when it comes to deciding what to call newly discovered species, scientists don’t always go by the book

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We May Be Temerarious and Unsuasible, But Can We Orthographize?

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What’s In a Name? Just Ask King Fisher, Robin Banks and Minnie Vann

What’s in a name? Just ask King Fisher, Robin Banks and Minnie Vann

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His Name Meant “Father Turk,” and That He Was

Almost overnight Kemal Ataturk banned the fez, secularized the state, gave women the vote and set Turkey on a course toward the West

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