Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, July 3, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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apposite
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Stative VerbsStative verbs are used to describe static conditions. They are usually unable to progress through time, and they therefore cannot be used when forming the continuous or progressive forms of verb tenses. What verb tenses can stative verbs be used in? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 HaruspicyHaruspicy is a method of divination that involves the examination of animal entrails, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry. A priest who practices this form of divination is known as a haruspex. The technique is thought to have originated in the Near East with the Hittites and Babylonians. It later spread with the Etruscans to the Roman Empire, where it became so popular that a college was opened to preserve the practice. What did haruspices believe the entrails could tell them? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Quebec City Founded by Samuel de Champlain (1608)Frenchman Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City as a trading post at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers. From this and subsequent settlements Catholic missionaries, explorers, and fur traders pushed across N America. Begun with just 32 colonists, the city is now home to about 500,000. Most residents are of French descent, despite the fact that the area was ceded to the British in 1763. Because many continental explorations began in the region, Quebec is known as what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Robert Adam (1728)One of the greatest architects of the late 18th century, Adam was a Scottish architect and designer whose work influenced the development of Western architecture both in Europe and North America. Along with his brother James, he developed the Adam style, an essentially decorative style of architecture that is most remembered for its application in interiors and is characterized by contrasting room shapes and delicate Classical ornaments. What are some of Adam's most famous projects? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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grand total— The final amount after adding several different numbers or sums. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kutztown Dutch Folk Festival (2023)The Pennsylvania Dutch Folk Festival in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, is an annual celebration of Pennsylvania Dutch foods, crafts, and customs. There are special foods, such as apple butter, rivvel soup (rivvels are like dumplings), and the fruit pies that the Pennsylvania Dutch claim to have originated. Traditional artisans featured at the fair include tinsmiths, weavers, pretzel-makers, candlemakers, potters, and quilters. There are reenactments of a Pennsylvania Dutch funeral feast and demonstrations of nipsi—a complicated game that involves batting a piece of wood. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: laylay - As in layperson, it derives from Greek laikos, "of the people"—as opposed to clerics. More... nest egg - Poultry farmers formerly placed a porcelain or other fake egg in a hen's nest to encourage it to lay more eggs—from this came nest egg, money saved to encourage the making of more. More... lay, lie - To lay is to place something; to lie is to recline. More... | |