Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, March 19, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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portmanteau
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adverbs of Degree with Gradable vs. Non-Gradable AdjectivesGradable adjectives are those that can have measurable levels of degree or intensity. Non-gradable adjectives, on the other hand, describe an extreme or absolute state. How are they paired with gradable and non-gradable adverbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the Shrew is one of William Shakespeare's earlier comedies. Its central plot involves the marriage of the violently tempered Katherina to Petruchio, who claims he can tame her wild ways. The comedy has inspired, among other things, a Broadway Musical, a number of Hollywood movies, and a 2000 Brazilian soap opera. How have some modern critics responded to the play's seemingly misogynistic tones? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Tuskegee Airmen Activated for Service (1941)The Tuskegee Airmen, trained at Alabama's Tuskegee Army Air Field during WWII, made up the US military's first African-American flying unit. In 1941, congressional legislation forced the Army Air Corps to create an all-black combat unit, and though the War Department aimed to block its formation by instituting a number of restrictive guidelines for applicants, many qualified for service. In all, these airmen flew 1,578 missions, destroyed 261 enemy aircraft, and were awarded how many medals? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?" (1813)David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and explorer, was the first European to cross the African continent. Among his many discoveries are the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls. Though he aimed to facilitate the abolition of the slave trade by opening Africa to commerce and missionary stations, he inadvertently contributed to the "Scramble for Africa" instead. He is the subject of the popular quotation, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Who uttered the famous phrase upon meeting him in 1871? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Human life consists in mutual service.Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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curb appeal— The external attractiveness of a building or property, such as can be viewed from the street (i.e., the curb). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Return of the Swallows of San Juan Capistrano (2023)San Juan Capistrano was the name of a mission built on the Pacific Coast by Father Junípero Serra in 1777. Even after the buildings collapsed in an earthquake 35 years later, thousands of swallows continued to nest in the ruins of the church. Local people noticed that the swallows tended to fly south on October 23, the death anniversary of St. John of Capistrano, and returned on March 19, St. Joseph's Day. A Swallow Festival is held each year at the mission in San Juan Capistrano near Los Angeles, California, around the time of the birds' return. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: remembermoment - To have a moment is to suddenly forget where you are and what's going on; it is also called a bristlecone or a senior moment. More... absence of mind - The failure to remember what one is doing. More... brain cloud - The temporary inability to think properly, or to remember something. More... souvenir - Literally French for "remember," from Latin subvenire, "occur to the mind." More... | |