Daily Content Archive

(as of Wednesday, December 19, 2018)
Word of the Day

creaky

Definition:(adjective) Worn and broken down by hard use.
Synonyms:decrepit, derelict, flea-bitten, run-down, woebegone
Usage: There is a certain house within my familiar recollection...a rusty, crazy, creaky, dry-rotted, dingy, dark, and miserable old dungeon.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Nominalization (Creating Nouns)

Nominalization is the creation of a noun from a verb or adjective. Most of the time, nouns are created from other parts of speech through the use of suffixes. What suffix is added to a verb to make a gerund? More...
Article of the Day

Helicopter Parents

"Helicopter parent" is a pejorative expression applied to parents who pay extremely close attention to their children, hovering closely overhead like helicopters. In Scandinavia, the phenomenon is known as "curling" parenthood—describing parents who sweep away all obstacles from their children's paths, just as athletes in the sport of curling sweep the ice in front of their stones. What device often blamed for the rise of helicopter parents has been called "the world's longest umbilical cord"? More...
This Day in History

Original FIFA World Cup Trophy Is Stolen (1983)

The World Cup has been held every fourth year since 1930, except during WWII. The international soccer tournament's original prize was officially renamed the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1946 in honor of the former Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) president, who stipulated that the first team to win the World Cup three times could keep the trophy in perpetuity. Brazil earned this right in 1970, but, in 1983, the trophy was stolen while on display there. Was it ever recovered? More...
Today's Birthday

Édith Piaf (1915)

Encouraged by her father, a circus acrobat, Édith Giovanna Gassion began singing in the streets of Paris at age 15. She was eventually discovered by a cabaret owner who gave her her first nightclub job, taught her the basics of stage presence, and suggested she change her name to Piaf, Parisian slang for "sparrow." As her popularity grew, she began performing in clubs across Europe and the Americas and appeared in several films. How did she allegedly aid French prisoners of war during WWII? More...
Quotation of the Day
One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)

Idiom of the Day

hog (something)

To take or use something all for oneself; to not allow others to have or use something. More...
Today's Holiday

Opalia (2023)

The ancient Roman fertility goddess Ops was known by several different names—among them Rhea, Cybele, Bona Dea, Magna Mater, Thya, and Tellus. She married Saturn and was the mother of Jupiter. She is usually portrayed as a matron, with a loaf of bread in her left hand and her right hand opened as if offering assistance. Not much is known about what actually took place during the Opalia, but it appears that women played an important role in the festival. Because Ops was a fertility goddess, she was often invoked by touching the earth. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: smoking

stogie, stogy - A stogie (or stogy) is named for the Conestoga wagon—as drivers of the wagons rolled tobacco into thin ropes for smoking on long trips; stogies are now long, thin cigars. More...

cigar - Comes from Spanish cigarro, from the Mayan verb sik'ar, "to smoke" or "smoking." More...

dottle - Any tobacco left in a pipe after smoking. More...

pipe dream - Originated with opium smoking. More...

June '24
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
March '24
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
December '23
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
July '23
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
April '23
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
February '23
SMTWTFS
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728    
October '22
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
July '22
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
February '22
SMTWTFS
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728     
January '22
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
October '21
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
May '21
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
February '21
SMTWTFS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28      
January '21
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
August '20
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
May '20
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
June '19
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
March '19
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
February '19
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
2425262728  
December '18
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
September '18
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
February '18
SMTWTFS
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728   
December '17
SMTWTFS
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      
July '17
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
April '17
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      
February '17
SMTWTFS
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728