Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, October 3, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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plaintive
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Auxiliary Verbs - WillAs a modal auxiliary verb, "will" is particularly versatile, having several different meanings and functions, including to form future tenses. It is also used to express an expected hypothetical outcome in what type of sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 RouletteRoulette emerged in late 18th-century European casinos and has remained popular with gamblers to this day. In the game, a horizontal wheel is spun and a ball is dropped onto it. Players may bet on which of the wheel's numbered slots the ball will come to rest in, what color the slot will be, and whether the number will be odd or even. Though roulette is ostensibly a game of chance, players have repeatedly tried to improve their odds. How did one engineer exploit the game to win $325,000 in 1873? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy Mauled by Tiger (2003)After meeting on a cruise ship in 1959, illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher and exotic animal enthusiast Roy Horn formed a magic act and incorporated exotic animals—most famously big cats—into their shows. They performed thousands of times without major incident until 10 years ago—coincidentally Horn's 59th birthday. It was then that Horn was bitten on the neck by a seven-year-old male tiger named Montecore during a performance. What did Horn reportedly say before being taken to the hospital? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 James Alfred Wight, AKA James Herriot (1916)After working for many years as a veterinary surgeon in rural England, Wight was persuaded by his wife to write down his collection of anecdotes. His humorous, fictionalized reminiscences were published under the pen name James Herriot in If Only They Could Talk (1970) and It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet (1972), issued in the US as the single and massively successful volume All Creatures Great and Small. Why did Wight feel the need to write under a pseudonym? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule.Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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mint money— To earn a very large amount of money, especially by doing something very successfully. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Leiden Day (2021)In 1573, the Dutch city of Leiden (or Leyden) was besieged by the Spaniards. Thousands were dying from disease and hunger. Finally, the river dikes were cut so that the Dutch army could sail in over the flooded fields and save the city. According to legend, the first person to emerge from the besieged city on October 3 was a young orphan boy. In the deserted Spanish camp, he discovered a huge pot of stew that was still hot. Known as Hutspot met Klapstuk, the mixture of meat and vegetables is still served on this day, along with bread and herring. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tidebillow - The swell on the ocean produced by the wind, or on a river or estuary by the tide or wind. More... slack water, slack tide - Before any turn of the tide, there is a time of slack water or slack tide. More... happy as a clam - Originally happy-as-a-clam-at-full-tide; it may refer to the fact that when the tide is full, nobody is digging clams. More... tidy - Comes from tide, which in Old English meant "time period"; its original meaning was "timely, opportune." More... | |