Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, June 16, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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jocular
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Intransitive Verbs in the "Middle" VoiceWhile the majority of reflexive verbs are transitive, with reflexive pronouns as their objects, certain intransitive verbs can be used to modify a subject (usually an inanimate object) that is also the receiver of the action. What happens to intransitive verbs in the middle voice? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 CompostingCompost is a dark, soil-like substance made of decomposed plant material. It is generally used in agriculture to improve soil structure and as a form of fertilizer. A range of methods and tools can be used for composting, but the process can also be as simple as letting a pile of dead plant matter—such as grass clippings or vegetable waste—sit and decompose for a year or more. Even in winter, the interior of the pile will remain hot due to the digestive action of microbes. What is "compost tea"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Abraham Lincoln Delivers His "House Divided" Speech (1858)In 1858, Lincoln was nominated to challenge incumbent Illinois senator Stephen Douglas for his seat. At the state Republican convention, he accepted the nomination with a now-famous speech explaining his view that the US could not exist with both slave and free states—as "a house divided against itself cannot stand." He lost the race but won the presidency two years later. When and by whom had the same biblical reference previously been used to describe the national rift over slavery? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joyce Carol Oates (1938)Oates is an American author of over 50 novels and numerous volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. She has won the National Book Award and the O. Henry Award and has been thrice nominated for a Pulitzer. She writes about modern American life and the connection between violence and love. Her characters are mainly ordinary, inarticulate people to whom terrible things happen. Her most famous short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is based on what real-life serial killer? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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H-E-double-hockey-sticks— A euphemistic spelling of "hell," referring to each L resembling a hockey stick in shape. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Martyrdom of Guru Arjan (2020)Guru Arjan (1563-1606) was the fifth of the Sikh gurus and the first to be martyred. He was known for compiling the Adi Granth, the "First Collection" of Sikh scripture. People commemorate Guru Arjan's martyrdom by visiting gurdwaras, places of worship, for special services. In India, where the weather is exceptionally hot at this time of year, it is traditional for Sikhs to make drinks available to every passerby—a reminder that part of Guru Arjan's torture before his death was being deprived of water. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: intoxicatednappy - Describing a beer that has a head and is foaming—or a person who is slightly intoxicated. More... capernoited - Slightly intoxicated. More... groggy - From grog, "spirits mixed with water," it first meant "intoxicated." More... temulent, temulency - Temulent means drunken or intoxicated; temulency is intoxication. More... | |