Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, August 13, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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disburse
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Colons with DialogueThe colon is used in written dialogue between two or more people, most often in transcripts of plays or legal testimony in a courtroom. We place the colon immediately after the name of the speaker, and the dialogue that follows is written without what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 El Día de los Muertos: The Day of the DeadIn Mexico and parts of Central America, el Día de los Muertos, or "the Day of the Dead," is a time when families and friends gather to pray for and remember loved ones who have died. Altars made of flowers, sugar skulls, and the favorite foods of the dead are often erected for the holiday, observed on the first two days of November to coincide with the Christian All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Scholars trace the origins of this holiday to an Aztec festival dedicated to what goddess? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Opha Mae Johnson Becomes First Woman to Enlist in the US Marine Corps (1918)During WWI, the US Secretary of the Navy decided to allow women to join the Marine Corps Reserve so that they could take over clerical duties being performed at the time by battle-ready Marines who were needed overseas. Johnson, who was 18 at the time, was the first woman to enlist. It would be another 25 years before the Marines began letting women fill non-clerical positions like parachute rigger, mechanic, and cryptographer. When were female Marines finally allowed to serve in active combat? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alfred Hitchcock (1899)Hitchcock was a six-time Academy Award-nominated English-American filmmaker who directed more than 50 feature films in a career spanning six decades. A master of the suspense thriller, he developed a style that is so distinctive that any filmmaker working in the suspense genre invariably risks comparison to him. He was one of the best known directors of his time, often making humorous cameo appearances in his own films. Hitchcock was also known for his use of MacGuffins, which are what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Ocean, n.: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man—who has no gills.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a good voice to beg bacon— Used to mock someone's voice as being strange, unpleasant, or inadequate (e.g., for singing). Bacon, being a dietary staple in older times, was often used as a metaphor for financial stability or wealth; having the voice of one who must "beg bacon," then, means having a harsh voice, like someone who is undernourished. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Fox Hill Festival (2019)For more than 100 years this day has been celebrated at Fox Hill Village in Nassau, a seaside resort on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas, to commemorate the abolition of slavery. Bahamian foods, singing, and dancing contribute to a carnival atmosphere, although there are services in local churches in the morning that feature gospel and Bahamian religious songs. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: interestedacquisitive - Means "very interested in acquiring money or material things." More... athenaeum - Can refer to "an association of persons interested in scientific and literary pursuits, meeting for the purpose of mutual improvement," or a reading room or library. More... speed dating - A type of matchmaking service in which participants meet for seven to eight minutes each before moving on to another participant, ultimately making a list of those they are interested in dating. More... imparlibidinous - When one partner is more interested in sex than the other, their relationship is imparlibidinous. More... | |