Daily Content Archive

(as of Monday, March 16, 2020)
Word of the Day

flitter

Definition:(verb) Move back and forth very rapidly.
Synonyms:flicker, flutter, quiver, waver
Usage: The hummingbird flittered from one flower to the next, darting instinctively to wherever the nectar was most plentiful.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Using Commas with Long Numbers

It is standard practice to add one or more commas to long numbers to make them easier to read. What are commas used in this way technically known as? More...
Article of the Day

The Octothorpe

In the US, it is most frequently called a pound or number sign. In the UK, it is called a hash. Elsewhere, it is referred to as a hex. Desiring an unambiguous name for the now-ubiquitous key, phone engineers coined the word "octothorpe" in the 1960s, but it never gained wide usage. "Octo" refers to the symbol's eight arms, but the origin of "thorpe" is less clear. One theory is that it is a reference to the symbol’s resemblance to a village surrounded by fields. Why is it called a pound sign? More...
This Day in History

My Lai Massacre (1968)

During the Vietnam War, US troops searching for Viet Cong fighters massacred hundreds of civilians from the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. Though they had not located any insurgents in My Lai, the soldiers opened fire on the villagers, killing men, women, and children. The incident was initially covered up by army officers. When it was revealed in the press nearly two years later, it divided the US public and increased pressure to end the war. How many soldiers were convicted for their crimes? More...
Today's Birthday

Rosa Bonheur (1822)

One of the most famous female painters of the 19th century, Bonheur was trained by her father—an art teacher—and began regularly exhibiting her work at the Paris Salon in 1841. Her unsentimental paintings of animals became very popular, particularly in England and the US, and her most famous painting, The Horse Fair, gained her an international reputation. Who gave her formal permission to dress as a man so that she could study horses at the actual Horse Fair in Paris? More...
Quotation of the Day
The nations of the earth are mostly swayed by fear—fear of the sort that a little cheap oratory turns easily to rage, hate, and violence.

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

Idiom of the Day

be cleaned out

To be emptied or devoid of money, food, resources, etc. More...
Today's Holiday

St. Urho's Day (2024)

St. Urho, whose name in Finnish means "hero," is credited with banishing a plague of grasshoppers that was threatening Finland's grape arbors. His legend in the United States was popularized in the 1950s; after being celebrated as a "joke holiday" for several years in the Menahga-Sebeka area, the idea spread to other states with large Finnish populations. The actual celebrations include wearing St. Urho's official colors—Nile Green and Royal Purple—drinking grape juice, and chanting St. Urho's famous words, "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go away," in Finnish. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: inhabitant

infernal - An inhabitant of the underworld can be called an infernal. More...

sherpa - Literally means "inhabitant of an eastern country." More...

aborigine - From Classical Latin meaning "ancestors," it was spelled with a capital A as the name of the primeval Romans; the first people called aborigines were the original inhabitants of Italy and Greece and aborigine was specifically applied to the inhabitants of a country ab origine, "from the beginning." More...

sylvans - Natives or inhabitants of forests or woods. 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