Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, November 10, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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staunch
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining the Perfective AspectThe perfective aspect highlights actions, states, or events as a whole, presenting the actions from an outside perspective as complete, bounded events. In which tenses is the perfective aspect encountered? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 HijrasIn South Asia, hijras are members of a transgender community of biological males who have assumed a female gender identity. Many live together in communities, and some are eunuchs. Activists have lobbied for recognition of the hijras under a third gender. Despite discrimination against them, hijras have historically fulfilled specific ceremonial roles in society, such as dancing at weddings. It is believed that if a hijra is not paid for such ritual services, what might happen? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Sesame Street Premieres (1969)Today, Sesame Street is an American institution. However, at the time of its debut, the show was revolutionary. Developed by the Children's Television Workshop, Sesame Street was the first educational children's show to base its content on laboratory research. Much of that research went into determining what would capture the attention spans of young viewers, and Muppets—such as Elmo and Oscar the Grouch—were found to be particularly effective. Which US state once banned the show? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Vachel Lindsay (1879)Lindsay was an American poet who, in an attempt to revive poetry as an oral art form of the common people, traveled the country reciting his poems in return for food and shelter. He first received wider recognition for 1913's "General William Booth Enters into Heaven," about the founder of the Salvation Army. His works are known for their strong, musical rhythms and vivid imagery. Despite his popularity, he was crushed by personal and financial worries and committed suicide by drinking what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The remedy is worse than the disease.Francis Bacon (1561-1626) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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keep (up) (one's) end of the bargain— To do as was promised in an agreement or bargain; to carry through with what one agreed to do. Also worded as "keep one's end of the bargain up." More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Martinsfest (2020)Martin's Festival in Germany honors both St. Martin of Tours and Martin Luther (1483-1546), the German theologian and leader of the Protestant Reformation. In Düsseldorf, a man dressed as St. Martin rides through the streets followed by hundreds of children. Many carry lanterns made from hollowed-out pumpkins. In Erfurt, where Martin Luther attended the university, there is a procession of children carrying lanterns. With their lanterns the children form the "Luther rose," or the escutcheon of Martin Luther. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: securityhostage - First referred to the state of someone handed over as a pledge or security (for the fulfillment of an undertaking). More... policy - Meaning "insurance document," it is from a French word meaning "certificate, contract," from an earlier Latin word meaning "a receipt or security for money paid." More... impignorate, pignorate - To impignorate or pignorate means to put up as security or to pawn. More... wage, wager - Wage once meant "pledge, security" and wager was defined as "solemn pledge" or "undertaking," from French wagier, "to pledge." More... | |