Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, April 9, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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mix-up
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Focusing Adverbs that Add InformationFocusing adverbs are used to draw attention to a particular part of a clause. When we want to emphasize information that is being added to previous information, what three focusing adverbs can we use? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Framing: The Art of "Spinning" InformationA frame is a schema of interpretation that individuals rely on to understand events. In framing, specific social and political forces use these unconscious collections of stereotypes to develop rhetorical packaging that encourages certain interpretations and discourages others. It has become especially popular in the US, where it is used by both major political parties. What framing strategies were included in the political memo titled "The 14 Words Never to Use"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Notre-Dame Affair (1950)The Notre-Dame Affair was an anti-Catholic intervention performed by radical members of the Lettrist movement on Easter Sunday 1950. During a quiet moment in the Easter High Mass, Michel Mourre, disguised as a Dominican monk, climbed to the rostrum and declaimed a blasphemous anti-sermon on the death of God. Not surprisingly, his statements enraged the thousands of faithful present at the mass, who went after Mourre and his co-conspirators and may well have lynched them had it not been for whom? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Tom Lehrer (1928)Despite being a mathematician who led a long career in academia, Lehrer is best known for the few dozen humorous songs he wrote in the 1950s and 60s. He largely tried to dodge the limelight, but his satirical treatment of serious subjects nevertheless gained him a significant cult following and influenced later performers of parody, like "Weird Al" Yankovic. According to an urban legend—one denied by the man himself—Lehrer gave up political satire after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to whom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Kindred spirits alone do not change with changing years.Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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spoiled for choice— Having an abundance of suitable or ideal options from which to choose, such that it may be difficult to make a decision. Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Appomattox Day (2022)The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, when Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union army accepted the surrender of General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy. The most widespread celebration of Appomattox Day took place in 1965 during the Civil War centennial year. The day was noted across the country with costumed pageants, books and articles reflecting on the war, and concerts of martial music. Although the anniversary is not observed on a yearly basis, reenactments of the historic surrender are held periodically. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: perverseawkward - Comes from Old Norse awk, "perverse," and weard, "in the direction of," i.e. "turned back upon itself" or "turned backward." More... crabby, crabbed - Crabby and crabbed derive from a crab's sideways movement and habit of snapping (thought to suggest a perverse or irritable nature). More... peeve - A back-formation from peevish, "perverse, obstinate." More... queer - Comes from the German root quer, "across, oblique, perverse." More... | |
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