If I could go back to school today I'd study language anthropology. I just stumbled across an article today about how the word "embiggen" made its way into a journal publication.

A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man - Lisa Simpson

Here's my contribution.

Grammatication

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

This a fascinating study. Recently they have traced certain commonly used words like those for mother, water, house, etc. and found out how humans migrated and diversified.

The trouble is that when they came to the Basque in northern Spain all theories went to hell. I don't think that anyone has yet found out where these people actually come from.

When you stay at your gramma's house for a few days over the summer?

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-Marty

1986 300E 220,000 miles+ transmission impossible
(Now waiting under a bridge in order to become one)

Reading your M103 duty cycle:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=831799&postcount=13
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=831807&postcount=14

What are the most 'natural' words? 'Mama' or close variants?
Language is an odd thing. It doesn't seem to be of much use unless there's someone else to communicate with. So the first mutations which allowed for human language must have provided some other benefit since just one speaker wouldn't have any survival advantage. (unless there's some benefit to speaking to oneself). Could the mutation have produced twins? Twins could have developed the language together and they'd have been much better hunters if they could linguistically communicated a complex hunting plan.
Any evidence of other homo species speaking?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

From the reports I read, Craig just tapped his feet.

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-Marty

1986 300E 220,000 miles+ transmission impossible
(Now waiting under a bridge in order to become one)

Reading your M103 duty cycle:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=831799&postcount=13
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=831807&postcount=14

Basquet case?

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Did the article misattribute the quote, or did you? Because if the article did, that makes it even funnier.
(It was Jebediah Springfield's quote)

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1984 300TD

Oh crap! I read it wrong! Sorry. Score one for reading comprehension. Maybe I need to go back to school!

http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?p=620&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I was reading a book by Jared Diamond a couple of years back - I want to say that it was The Third Chimpanzee but I just can't remember - and he was talking about a study that traced back human language and had determined that language has one of it's major origination points in the Central Asian steppes (in the Caucasas region?). It was really interesting the study followed the migration process backwards to the root word for numerous common words, and that you could still extrapolate the modern meaning from the root in many instances.

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Jonathan

2011 Mazda2
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1994 C280 (retired)