Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, May 11, 2022)Word of the Day | |||||||
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tryst
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Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives that describe the subject of the clause will follow a linking verb. In such cases, they are known as subject complements. When predicative adjectives describe the direct object of non-linking verbs, what are they called? More... |
Article of the Day | |
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The OrchidThe unusually large orchid family consists of some 450 genera and at least 10,000 species. Orchids grow most abundantly in tropical and subtropical forests and are among the most highly prized ornamental plants. Since being imported from the Bahamas to Britain in the 18th century, these flowers have been cultivated for their commercial value and have been successfully hybridized and variegated. Their name comes from the Greek word orkhis—or "testicle"—after the appearance of what feature? More... |
This Day in History | |
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Dust Bowl: Dust Storm Hits Great Plains (1934)In the 1930s, severe drought conditions in the Great Plains region of the US and decades of farming without crop rotation led to a series of devastating dust storms. The storms, called "dusters" or "black blizzards," caused widespread ecological and agricultural damage. In May 1934, one of the worst storms to hit the Dust Bowl blew massive amounts of Great Plains topsoil all the way to the East Coast and dumped the equivalent of how many pounds of debris on Chicago, Illinois? More... |
Today's Birthday | |
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Frederick Russell Burnham (1861)Burnham was an American adventurer whose outdoorsmanship helped inspire the founding of the international scout movement. He was born on an Indian reservation to a missionary family and became a horseback messenger for Western Union Telegraph Company at age 13 and soon after a scout and tracker. After two decades of ranging in the Southwest and Mexico, he moved to Africa to become the British army's chief of scouts during the Boer War. His tracking skills earned him what nickname in Africa? More... |
Quotation of the Day | |
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It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all. William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) |
Idiom of the Day | |
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get in touch (with someone)— To initiate or establish contact or communication with someone More... |
Today's Holiday | |
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Frost Saints' Days (2023)These three consecutive days in May mark the feasts of St. Mammertus, St. Pancras, and St. Servatus. In the wine-growing districts of France, a severe cold spell occasionally strikes at this time of year, inflicting serious damage on the grapevines; some in rural France have believed that it is the result of their having offended one of the three saints, who for this reason are called the "frost saints." French farmers have been known to show their displeasure over a cold snap at this time of year by flogging the statues and defacing the pictures of Mammertus, Pancras, and Servatus. More... |
Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: scentbreath - From an Old English word meaning "scent, smell." More... flair - Comes from Latin fragrare, "smell sweet," and was first the ability to detect the "essence" or "scent" of something and know how to act accordingly. More... red herring - Something intended to be misleading or distracting, so named from the practice of using the scent of red herring in training hounds. More... relish - First meant "odor, scent," then "taste, flavor." More... |