Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, February 14, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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repugnance
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Infinitives vs. Base Forms (Bare Infinitives)The base form of a verb is simply the infinitive without the particle "to"—like an infinitive, it is uninflected for tense and person. Because of this similarity, the base form of a verb is often known as a bare infinitive. However, infinitives and base-form verbs function differently—in what ways? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Zzyzx: English's Last WordZzyzx is a settlement in San Bernardino County, California. The name was given to the area in 1944 by American radio evangelist Curtis Howe Springer, who claimed it was the last word in the English language. He established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa on the plot, which was actually federal land that he had not received permission to use. In 1974, he was arrested for misusing the land, and the government seized the property. Who oversees the area today? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1929)When Jack McGurn, a member of Al Capone's gang, was almost killed by members of rival George "Bugs" Moran's gang, Capone decided to retaliate by luring Bugs and some of his men to a warehouse and killing them. On the day of the massacre, Capone's men thought that the rival crime boss had entered the warehouse and opened fire. They killed seven men but not Bugs—he had grown suspicious and changed his plans. One of the seven victims initially survived, despite how many gunshot wounds? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Max Horkheimer (1895)Horkheimer was a German philosopher and sociologist and played an important role in the development of critical theory and Western Marxism. In Eclipse of Reason and Dialectic of Enlightenment, he developed a critique of scientific positivism, and his ideas about liberation and consumer society continue to influence contemporary empirical sociologists. What did Horkheimer believe to be the cause of the ills of modern society? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 He would always feel for her that impersonal admiration which is inspired by anything very large, like the Empire State Building or the Grand Canyon of Arizona.P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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big break— A fortuitous moment, opportunity, or turn of events of great consequence, especially as relates to one's career. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Valentine's Day (2023)How St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers remains a mystery, but one theory is that the Church used the day in an attempt to Christianize the old Roman Lupercalia, a pagan festival that entailed putting girls' names in a box and letting the boys draw them out. The Church substituted saints' names for girls' names, but, by the 16th century, it was once again girls' names that ended up in the box. Eventually, the custom of sending anonymous cards or messages to those one admired became the accepted way of celebrating St. Valentine's Day. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: silkfloss - A word for untwisted filaments of silk used in making embroidery or satin. More... lame - A material consisting of silk or other yarns interwoven with metallic threads. More... scroop - The rustle of silk. More... tabby - The common tabby cat derives its name from silk with a wavy pattern, from Arabic utabi, the name of the quarter in Baghdad where the silk was made. More... | |