Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, May 20, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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gyrate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adjective + "of"Because there are no distinct rules for determining how adjectives combine with prepositions, the best way to learn correct adjective and preposition combinations is by memorizing some of the most common pairings. What can be identified by an adjective paired with the preposition "of"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Rule of ThumbNow used to refer to a convenient principle with a broad application not intended to be strictly accurate in every situation, the term "rule of thumb" first appeared in print in Sir William Hope's The Compleat Fencing-Master in 1692. The phrase is thought to have originated with woodworkers who used the length of their thumbs, rather than rulers, for measurements. However, it is often erroneously claimed that the term originally referred to a law that limited the thickness of what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Battle of Hamburger Hill Ends (1969)Fought over a period of 10 days in 1969, the Battle of Hamburger Hill was the last major US ground assault of the Vietnam War. Attacks on the heavily fortified hill were primarily carried out by infantry using small arms fire, with fighting akin to WWI trench warfare. The site was of little strategic value, and the high number of casualties that resulted from capturing it sparked controversy and led to dramatic changes in US strategy. How did the hill get its name? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Honoré de Balzac (1799)Ranking among the great masters of the novel, Balzac was a French writer regarded as one of the founders of realism in literature. His magnum opus was a vast collection of novels and short stories collectively titled La Comédie humaine—The Human Comedy—which presents a panorama of the French society of his time, picturing in precise detail characters from every class and every profession. Balzac's work habits are legendary. How long was he said to write during a single stretch? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The truth is, we each of us have an inborn conviction that the whole world, with everybody and everything in it, was created as a sort of necessary appendage to ourselves. Our fellow men and women were made to admire us and to minister to our various requirements.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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act of congress— That which is extremely difficult to achieve or requires a large amount of effort or patience to enact. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Emancipation Day (Tallahassee, Florida) (2023)Emancipation Day in Tallahassee, Florida, is celebrated each year on May 20. That date marks the anniversary of the day in 1865 when Union General Edward M. McCook announced that President Abraham Lincoln had ended slavery in Florida under the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation. Since 1997, the site of McCook's headquarters, now known as Knott House, has hosted an annual reenactment of the proclamation. A free public celebration follows, with additional speeches, period entertainment, and a picnic across the street in Lewis Park. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: leisureempty - First meant "at leisure, unoccupied," and it could also mean "unmarried." More... leisure - Based on Latin licere, "be allowed." More... scholastic - Based on Latin scholasticus, "devote one's leisure to learning." More... vacation - Coming from Latin vacation/vacatio, from vacare, "to be free, empty; to be at leisure," around 1395, this term entered Old English, meaning "rest and freedom from any activity." More... | |