Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, May 24, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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shortsighted
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Regular AdverbsAdverbs generally correspond to an adjective, so that when we want to apply the adjective's meaning to a verb (or to an adjective or another adverb), we have a straightforward way to do so. What ending is typically added to the end of an adjective to make an adverb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 I'll Be Done in a "Jiffy"Dating to at least 1785, the term "jiffy" is used informally to refer to any unspecified short period of time, often the brief moment it will take to finish a task. Certain fields of science use the word technically to denote a specific unit of time—typically a fraction of a second. In electronics, for example, a jiffy is defined as the time between alternating current power cycles. In computing, a jiffy is the duration of one tick of the system timer interrupt. What is a jiffy in astrophysics? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 "Mary Had a Little Lamb" Published (1830)"Mary Had a Little Lamb" is a 19th century American nursery rhyme. It was written by Sarah Josepha Hale, who turned to writing in 1822 as a widow trying to support her family and who eventually became an influential editor and arbiter of American taste. Thomas Edison recited part of the poem to test his invention of the phonograph, and a host of musicians have recorded versions of it. The nursery rhyme is said to have been based on an actual incident in which what happened? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Helen Brooke Taussig (1898)Now regarded as the founder of pediatric cardiology, Taussig was an American physician who, among other things, revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of "blue babies," babies whose heart malformations cause low blood oxygen content. She pioneered the use of fluoroscopy to identify defects in the heart and great vessels and devised a surgical treatment with Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas that saved thousands of infants. She also helped block the approval of what dangerous drug in the US? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Being poor is a mere trifle. It is being known to be poor that is the sting.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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in some sense— Partly; in some or certain way(s). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bermuda Day (2024)Bermuda Day, formerly Commonwealth Day, is a public holiday and the highlight of Bermuda Heritage Month. Since 1979, a variety of cultural activities have been held every May, including historical exhibits, concerts, and thanksgiving services in churches. Festivities on May 24 include a parade that ends up in the middle of a festival at Bernard Park in Hamilton. It is also a popular day for Bermudians to hit the beaches. Runners participate in a marathon race, and there are races for cyclists and skaters. May 24 is also the beginning of dinghy-racing season in St. George's Harbor. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: limbsashtanga - Sanskrit for "having eight parts"—referring to the eight limbs or sutras of yoga; ashtanga yoga is also known as power yoga. More... basket case - Originally slang denoting a soldier who had lost all four limbs, thus unable to move independently. More... stretch - Originally meant "lengthening the limbs" or making them stiffer by stretching. More... hurkle, hurple - To hurkle or hurple is to draw one's limbs in and scrunch up the shoulders in reaction to the cold or in a storm. More... | |