Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, February 8, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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braggadocio
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Interrogative AdjectivesEnglish has three interrogative adjectives: "what," "which," and "whose." They are called "interrogative" because they are usually used to ask questions. How can they be differentiated from interrogative pronouns? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The MuppetsIn 1954, Jim Henson got his first job as a local television puppeteer and soon created his alter ego, the debonair Kermit the Frog. He subsequently introduced several other "Muppets"—crosses between hand puppets and marionettes, with mobile, expressive faces and gesturing hands. In 1969, Henson and his associate Frank Oz brought Muppets like Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird to public television's Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Why are most Muppets left-handed? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Orangeburg Massacre (1968)In the Orangeburg massacre, local police in Orangeburg, South Carolina, fired into a crowd of about 200 people protesting segregation, killing three students and injuring 27 others. Although the incident predated the Kent State shootings and Jackson State killings and was the first incident of its kind on a US college campus, the Orangeburg Massacre received relatively little media coverage. On that day, the demonstrators were gathered to protest the segregation of what type of facility? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Kate Chopin (1851)A St. Louis, Missouri, native, Chopin moved to Louisiana when she married at the age of 20. After her husband passed away, she returned to St. Louis and began her professional writing career. Now considered a forerunner of 20th-century feminist authors, Chopin gained attention with her many short stories featuring Creole tales and New Orleans culture but virtually stopped publishing after her novel The Awakening was heavily criticized on what grounds? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Tolerance is a very dull virtue. It is boring. Unlike love, it has always had a bad press. It is negative. It merely means putting up with people, being able to stand things.E. M. Forster (1879-1970) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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wide berth— A good distance (between things, people, etc.). Originally referred to ships. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Firecracker Festival (2019)Firecrackers are a traditional element of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year celebration, and one town really takes its firecrackers seriously. Each year 16 families are selected to compete in producing the most spectacular display for the town of Dong Ky in Vietnam's Bac Ninh Province. These are huge, elaborately decorated affairs that may require two dozen men to carry and up to $500 to create. Each firecracker is paraded through town and set up on a special tripod for firing. After all the firecrackers have been set off, a panel of judges determines the winning family. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: purposesall intents and purposes - A redundant phrase, created for emphasis. More... blamestorming - An intense discussion for the purposes of placing blame or assigning responsibility for a misdeed or failure. More... celebrant, celebrator, reveler - Celebrants take part in religious ceremonies; celebrators or revelers gather for purposes of revelry. More... teleology - The study of design in nature; the word's basic meaning is "the study of ends or purposes"—attempts to understand the purpose of a natural occurrence by looking at its results. More... | |