Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, April 9, 2022)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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jilt
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Irregular VerbsIrregular verbs, by their very definition, do not have spelling rules that we can follow to create the past simple tense and past participles. This means that the only way of knowing how to spell these forms is to memorize them for each irregular verb individually. What are some examples of irregular verbs? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Nessie: The Loch Ness MonsterAlthough most experts agree that the monster said to live in Scotland's Lake Ness does not exist, the Loch Ness Monster is alive and well in the popular imagination and has been rearing its enormous head in legends dating all the way back to 565 CE. Some theorize that "Nessie" is related to the long-extinct plesiosaur, a Mesozoic marine reptile, but this is challenged by the fact that Lake Ness was frozen solid during recent ice ages. What are some other theories about Nessie's origins? 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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 J. William Fulbright (1905)Fulbright, a Rhodes Scholar, served in the US Department of Justice, taught law, and was president of the University of Arkansas before becoming a member of US Congress. His Fulbright Act provides grants that enable thousands of Americans to study abroad and allow overseas students to study in the US. It was passed into law in 1946 and earned him international recognition. Fulbright's Senate career was marked by his opposition to the Vietnam War and what other notable cases of dissent? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) | |
| 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... | |