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Linguistics

Authors' Unique Words Provide "Linguistic Fingerprint"

BBC News | Posted 12.11.2009 | Books

Read More: Authors, Linguistics, Language, Books, Writing, Words, Herman Melville, D.H. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy, Rare Words, Books News

Analyses of classic authors' works provide a way to "linguistically fingerprint" them, researchers say. The relationship between the number of words ...

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Bi-Partisanship; or, the Fine Art of Spear Throwing

Mark Axelrod | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Bi-Partisan, Democrat, Linguistics, Language, Political Parties, Health Care Reform, Republican, Bipartisanship, Partisanship, Politics News
Mark Axelrod

Bi-partisan. Can't listen to a political talk show these days, either from the "left" or the "right" without someone using the word once, twice, even multiple times.

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Come to the Kitchina!

Juliet Linley | Posted 10.18.2009 | World

Read More: Language, Linguistics, Italy, Italian, Parenting, Children, Multilingual, World News
Juliet Linley

Around the age of two, our daughter started amusing us with a variety of linguistic amalgamations. She also started treating us as walking dictionaries, to fulfill her seemingly insatiable desire to learn how to say every single item she came across in both English and Italian.

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Cutting to the Chase

Robin Lakoff | Posted 09.17.2009 | Living

Read More: Semantics, English, Linguistics, Portmanteaus, Language, Acronyms, Truncations, Brangelina, Through-the-Looking-Glass, Neologism, Twitter, Humpty-Dumpty, Latin, Lewis Carroll, Words, Spanglish, Chinglish, English Language, Misspeaking, Living News
Robin Lakoff

It seems obvious that people create shortened forms to save time. And yet, most often, we don't save that much time and may run the risk of endangering intelligibility.

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What's Wrong With This Statement?

Candy Spelling | Posted 09.14.2009 | Living

Read More: Town Hall Meetings, Linguistics, Talking Points, Health Care Legislation, Bully Pulpit, Truth, Politics, Living News
Candy Spelling

George Lakoff, a UC Berkeley linguistics professor: "The Democrats still believe in Enlightenment reason: If you just tell people the truth, they will come to the right conclusion."

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Obama's Legacy: The Death of the GOP

Alex Abella | Posted 05.29.2009 | Politics

Read More: Arlen Specter, Linguistics, Congress, Rand Corporation, Ronald Reagan, University of Chicago, Barack Obama, Politics News
Alex Abella

After Senator Arlen Specter's stunning switch in party affiliation, the Republicans in Congress will be reduced to a sputtering stump group of grumpy old white men who just don't get it.

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New World Atlas Shows Endangered Languages

AP | DHEEPTHI NAMASIVAYAM | Posted 03.22.2009 | World

Read More: Language, World, Globe, World Languages, Dying Languages, Language Extinction, Linguistics, Norway, Atlas, World Atlas, Atlas of Dying Languages, Atlas of Extinct Languages, World News

PARIS — Only one native speaker of Livonian remains on Earth, in Latvia. The Alaskan language Eyak went extinct last year when its last survivin...

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What's in a Name: The Folly of Being a Loyal Pro Sports Fan

Richard B. Woodward | Posted 03.02.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: Superbowl, Linguistics, Sports, Entertainment News
Richard B. Woodward

A pro sports team is a fluid concept, defined neither by its management or home town, nor by its insignias or players. Irrationality is at the heart of interest in the game, for players and fans alike.

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Depends on What the Meaning of the Word 'Is' (Surge) Is

Adam Blickstein | Posted 08.01.2008 | Politics

Read More: John McCain, Iraq Surge, Linguistics, Language, Casuistry, Success of the Surge, Manipulative, Political Rhetoric, John McCain Rhetoric, Politics News
Adam Blickstein

The stakes are far higher now in dealing with a war than with adultery. But in both instances, the manipulation of words, whether active or passive, matter.

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We Won in Iraq -- A Long Time Ago

Dave Winer | Posted 07.30.2008 | Politics

Read More: Semantic Nonsense, Iraq War, Saddam Hanging, National Football League, Linguistics, Iraq Occupation, McCain Iraq 100 Years, Politics News
Dave Winer

Remember when our troops marched into Baghdad, took the place over, drove Saddam into a hole and arrested or killed the government? Then we disbanded their army -- that's what victory looks like.

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