Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, June 26, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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abdication
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Participle Phrases in Middle PositionWhen a participle phrase occurs in the middle position, and is not essential to the meaning of the sentence, it should be set apart from the rest of the sentence by two commas. However, if a participle phrase occurs in the middle position and is essential to the meaning of the sentence, how should it be punctuated? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Electric ViolinThe traditional violin, predominantly played in orchestras and chamber music, was developed in Italy in the early 16th century. The electric violin arrived 400 years later, first appearing in the jazz music of the 1920s in the US. Many electric violins have a solid body designed to minimize feedback and are made with built-in pickups for amplification, while others are acoustic instruments that have been converted with electric components. Who are some of the musicians who use electric violins? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Pied Piper Abducts the Children of Hamelin (1284)According to a centuries-old legend set in Hamelin, Germany, the Pied Piper was hired by local residents in 1284 to rid the town of rats, which he did by charming them with music and leading them to the river to drown. When the citizens refused to pay him the agreed upon price, he exacted his revenge by charming away their children. Famous versions of the legend were immortalized by Goethe, Robert Browning, and the Brothers Grimm. What historic events may have inspired the tale? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866)An enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist, Carnarvon was an English aristocrat who funded several excavations in Egypt. After pursuits in Thebes, he joined forces with English Egyptologist Howard Carter to search for Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. In 1922, the two opened the young Pharaoh's crypt, discovering treasures unsurpassed in the history of archaeology. Carnarvon's death a year after the discovery became linked to the legendary "Mummy's Curse." What really killed him? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Well, I really don't advise a woman who wants to have things her own way to get married.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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good job— An informal expression of praise for having done something well. (It can also be used sarcastically to mean the opposite.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Madagascar Independence Day (2023)This national holiday commemorates Madagascar's independence from France on this day in 1960. Republic Day is another public holiday in Madagascar, held on December 30, the day the new constitution went into effect. The country became a republic in 1975. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: vigorvim, vigor - Vim is the same as vigor. More... bouncing - In bouncing baby, it means "vigorous." More... feckful - Means "efficient, vigorous," or "powerful." More... macho, machismo - Macho is from Mexican Spanish, meaning "male animal or plant" or "masculine, vigorous"—from Latin masculus, "male"; machismo (pronounced mah-CHEEZ-mo) is based on macho. More... | |