Monetary-policy announcements from Beijing are still not as important as the Delphic words of Alan Greenspan, the Fed's chairman.

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He encourages the reader to wonder who was the Pythian priestess who interpreted the Delphic oracle, vent or dummy, spirit or medium?

ECONOMIST: Ventriloquism

Last year, Ellie Goulding was joined in the Sound of 2010 top five by Marina and the Diamonds, Delphic, Hurts and The Drums.

BBC: Sound of 2011 list revealed

Go to a lawyer, a doctor, a financial wizard and you come away with a bill and perhaps a morsel of advice that may be no more helpful than that dispensed by the Delphic Mrs Lederer.

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No doubt, much to Pam Edstrom's disapproval, daughter Jennifer and her fellow author depict an almost directionless company riven by turf wars and the rivalries of feuding barons intent only on interpreting the frequently delphic utterances of the bespectacled one.

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The Delphic wording of this statement was deliberate, in Arabic as well as in Hebrew and English, but the Arabs defend it by saying it is there to be explored by the Israelis and others and that, in any case, it is a more positive and clear commitment to international law than anything now coming from Israel.

NPR: Jimmy Carter on Conflict in the Middle East