Standard n.
(the name of) a language spoken on multiple worlds or by multiple species; the common language of a group or place; cf. Galactic n. 2
Language
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1952
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Roger Dee
bibliography
We sent Xavier out to meet the first native that showed up, and the native talked to him. We heard it all by monitoring: his name was Tarvil, he spoke Terran Standard, and he was amicable.
Wailing Wall in Galaxy Science Fiction July 31/2 -
1953
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Damon Knight
bibliography
It was in reasonably good Standard; so good, in fact, that Spangler conceived an instant suspicion that Pembun could speak Standard acceptably when he chose.
Double Meaning in Startling Stories Jan. 41/2 -
1965
Marion Zimmer Bradley
bibliography
You could get along all right in Standard, of course—everyone around the Spaceport and the Trade City speaks it.
Star of Danger (1985) 4 -
1980
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Sharon Webb
bibliography
I didn’t know what they were talking about; none of them spoke Standard.
Switch on the Bull Run Jan. 48 -
1996
Joan D. Vinge
bibliography
She spoke Standard, with no real accent.
Dreamfall (2004) 153 -
2000
Emily Devenport
bibliography
‘You're not going to translate for me?’ Siggy was frightened again. ‘They speak Standard,’ he said.
Broken Time 255 -
2001
David Weber
John Ringo
As long as they used Standard, no one was going to be able to know what they were talking about.
March Upcountry (2002) 263 -
2010
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Kristine Kathryn Rusch
bibliography
I’m not sure what they speak. It sounded familiar when the woman started talking to us, but I couldn’t understand her. I thought at first that she was speaking Standard, but pronouncing it differently, so differently that I had trouble processing it. Then I realized that the words sounded familiar but weren’t familiar.
Becoming One with the Ghosts in Asimov’s Science Fiction Oct.–Nov. 39 -
2020
Elizabeth Bear
bibliography
Then it spoke, in stilted but correct Standard, in a smoky contrived alto that made me flinch.
Machine iii. 34
Research requirements
antedating 1952
Earliest cite
Roger Dee, in Galaxy
Research History
Ralf Brown submitted a 2000 cite from Maggy Thomas's "Broken Time".Fred Galvin submitted a 1952 cite from Roger Dee, in Galaxy.
We have a quotation from a later edition of Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Star of Danger"; we would like to check this in the 1965 first edition.
Last modified 2021-02-10 11:56:41
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