Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, March 18, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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disputant
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Making a Noun MasculineNouns that are, were, or can be distinguished between feminine and masculine genders are often masculine in their basic form. Masculine nouns tend to end in what two suffixes? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Aramaic LanguageDuring the 12th century BCE, Aramaean nomads, the native speakers of Aramaic, began to settle in modern-day Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. As Aramaic grew in importance, it spread throughout the Fertile Crescent as a lingua franca, or common language, and settlers and missionaries later brought the Semitic language to parts of N Africa, Europe, Persia, India, and China. What 2004 film became a major box-office success despite the fact that most of its dialogue is spoken in ancient Aramaic? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 UK Recognizes British Sign Language as Official Language (2003)Making use of space and involving movement of the hands, body, face, and head, British Sign Language (BSL) is the preferred language of deaf people in the UK and those who communicate with them, such as relatives and interpreters. BSL has regional and local dialects, and some signs go in and out of fashion or evolve over time, just like spoken words. Although English is the predominant spoken language in both the UK and US, BSL differs from American Sign Language in what ways? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (1848)In 1840, Queen Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and the two had nine children, whose marriages, and those of their grandchildren, in turn, allied the British royal house with those of Russia, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Romania, and others. Their sixth child, Princess Louise, is regarded by biographers as the couple's most beautiful daughter. In 1871, Louise married the Marquess of Lorne and became the Duchess of Argyll. Why was the marriage controversial? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Art requires neither complaisance nor politeness; nothing but faith, faith and freedom.Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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ice maiden— pejorative A coolly composed, unemotional woman; a woman without affection or warmth of feeling. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Sheelah's Day (2024)Even the Irish aren't exactly sure who Sheelah was. Some say she was St. Patrick's wife; some say his mother. But one thing that they all seem to agree on is how this day should be celebrated: by drinking whiskey. The shamrock worn on St. Patrick's Day is supposed to be worn on the following day as well, until it is "drowned" in the last glass of the evening. If someone should drop his shamrock into his glass and drink it before the "drowning ceremony" takes place, he has no choice but to get a fresh shamrock and another glass. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: utterarrant - Means "complete, utter," as in arrant knave, "an extremely untrustworthy individual." More... explore - Comes from Latin, meaning "search out," from ex-, "out," and plorare, "utter a cry." More... whicker - To utter a half-suppressed laugh. More... yodel - From Bavarian jodln, "to utter the syllable jo (yo)." More... | |