Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, May 29, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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contrite
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Dependent ClausesA dependent clause (also called a subordinate clause) is a clause that relies on the information from an independent clause to form a complete, logical thought. What are dependent words? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Kilroy Was Here"Kilroy was here" is an American popular culture expression that is believed to have originated during World War II, when a US shipyard worker began scrawling the phrase on ships he had inspected. US servicemen then took up the saying and began scrawling it all over the world, wherever they were stationed or encamped. The phrase is usually paired with a doodle of a man peeking over a wall, a cartoon that was likely adopted from UK wartime graffiti that was often accompanied by what slogans? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Battle of Legnano (1176)In 1160, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was excommunicated for his support of a series of antipopes against Pope Alexander III. In 1167, the communes of Lombardy in northern Italy formed an alliance to resist Frederick. The Lombard League soundly defeated Frederick's forces in the Battle of Legnano, after which Frederick reconciled with the pope and made peace with the Lombard cities. Why, if he survived, did Frederick's wife go into mourning for her husband following the battle? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874)A British man of letters, Chesterton was a journalist, scholar, novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He wrote essays on Christianity and works of social and literary criticism on subjects such as Charles Dickens. His fiction includes the popular allegorical novel The Man Who Was Thursday, and his most successful creation, the series of detective novels featuring the priest-sleuth Father Brown. Chesterton was also known for collaborating with what author? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There is one insuperable obstacle to a belief in ghosts. A ghost never comes naked: he appears either in a winding-sheet or "in his habit as he lived." To believe in him, then, is to believe that not only have the dead the power to make themselves visible after there is nothing left of them, but that the same power inheres in textile fabrics.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have its/(one's) day— To be at the height of or experience success or prosperity. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Planting the Penny Hedge (2019)The Penny Hedge is a fence of interlaced stakes and boughs that is built along the water's edge near Whitby, England, in the morning on the eve of Ascension Day. According to the local legend, in 1159 three noblemen were out hunting a wild boar. When the animal took refuge with a monk from Whitby Abbey, they beat him to death. The abbot of Whitby ordered them to build a hedge every year on the shore while the bailiff announced their offences. Today it is the harbor master himself who continues the tradition, while church and civil dignitaries, along with townspeople and visitors, look on. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: stimulateaperitif, appetizer - An aperitif is a drink to stimulate the appetite and an appetizer is a food that does this before a meal. More... condiment - From Latin condimentum, from condire, "to pickle, preserve"; condiments are food substances used to heighten the natural flavor of foods, to stimulate the appetite, to aid digestion, or preserve certain foods. More... innervate, enervate - Innervate means "to stimulate or give nervous energy," the opposite of enervate. More... stimulate - From Latin stimulus, "pointed stick for goading animals." More... | |