Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, November 11, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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gaffe
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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"It" as a Dummy PronounJust like the dummy pronoun "there," "it" is also used as a pronoun without an antecedent in sentences. "It" is commonly used as a dummy pronoun in discussions of what three topics? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 San SerriffeOn April Fools' Day 1977, Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported on the curious—but fictional—island nation of San Serriffe. The article described two islands—Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse—inhabited by colonists known as "colons" and "semi-colons," who celebrate events such as the Festival of the Well-Made Play. Since the article predated personal computers, typography was not widely known, and plays on words like "sans serif" eluded many readers. What is San Serriffe's national bird? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Great Blue Norther (1911)The central US is no stranger to sudden changes in weather, but the temperature fluctuations and weather phenomena that struck on November 11, 1911, were about as unusual as it gets. On that day, many cities experienced record high temperatures before the mercury plummeted to record lows. Springfield, Missouri, for example, was a balmy 80°F (27°C) before the cold front passing through the region brought it down to a frigid 13°F (-11°C). What else did the front bring with it? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (1914)Bates was a key figure in the integration of public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. The publisher of a newspaper, Bates began publicizing civil rights issues in the early 1940s. In 1957, when the Little Rock School Board chose nine black students to integrate the local high school, Bates organized the group's activities amid mob violence so intense that the students could only enter the school under military guard. On what national holiday is Daisy Gatson Bates Day observed in Arkansas? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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no pressure— Said ironically to emphasize that what is being discussed carries a large amount of importance or makes one feel that one must try very hard to succeed. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Gansabhauet (2021)Gansabhauet is held only in the country town of Sursee, Lucerne Canton, Switzerland, on St. Martin's Day. A dead goose is hung by its neck in front of the town hall, and young men draw lots to take turns trying to knock it down with a blunt saber. (Gansabhauet means "knocking down goose.") The men—blindfolded and wearing red robes and big round masks representing the sun—get only one try at the bird. While the men whack at the goose, children's games take place: they scale a stripped tree, race in sacks, and compete to see who can make the ugliest face. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: hungerfamine, famish - Famine and famish come from Latin fames, "hunger." More... dissatisfied, unsatisfied - Only a person can be dissatisfied, while an abstract thing (such as hunger) can be unsatisfied. More... piece de resistance - The original context for piece de resistance is what one is able to resist by eating the big dish—pangs of hunger. More... | |