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\begin{document}

The \href{http://www.ctan.org/packages/babel}{babel} package introduces the concept of \textquotedbl{}shorthands\textquotedbl{}: additional
characters that introduce a latex macro. Most common is the active double
quote (\textquotedbl{}). Problematic is the tilde character (\textasciitilde{}) which is regularely used
for no-break spaces but redefined by some language definition files:

English: 'an' \textquotedbl{}active\textquotedbl{}-quote, \textasciicircum{}circumflex, and~no-break~spaces

\foreignlanguage{basque}{Basque: 'an' \textquotedbl{}active\textquotedbl{}-quote, \textasciicircum{}circumflex, and~no-break~spaces}

\foreignlanguage{esperanto}{Esperanto: 'an' \textquotedbl{}active\textquotedbl{}-quote, \textasciicircum{}circumflex, and~no-break~spaces}

\foreignlanguage{estonian}{Estonian: 'an' \textquotedbl{}active\textquotedbl{}-quote, \textasciicircum{}circumflex, and~no-break~spaces}

\foreignlanguage{galician}{Galician: 'an' \textquotedbl{}active\textquotedbl{}-quote, \textasciicircum{}circumflex, and~no-break~spaces}

\foreignlanguage{ngerman}{German: 'an' \textquotedbl{}active\textquotedbl{}-quote, \textasciicircum{}circumflex, and~no-break~spaces}

Spanish: option clash with Galician!

% .. class:: language-es
% 
% Spanish: 'an' "active"-quote, ^circumflex, and no-break spaces

\end{document}
