Daily Content Archive

(as of Friday, November 17, 2023)
Word of the Day

drumbeater

Definition:(noun) One that supports a cause, especially vehemently.
Synonyms:partisan, zealot
Usage: The editor of the newspaper was an unabashed drumbeater for the cause.
Daily Grammar Lesson

Adverbial Clauses

An adverbial clause, or adverb clause, is a group of words behaving as an adverb. What is used to connect an adverbial clause to the main clause in a sentence? More...
Article of the Day

The Four Humors

In the 3rd century BCE, Hippocrates introduced his theory of Humoralism. It was based on the notion that 4 fluids, each corresponding to one of the 4 elements, permeate the human body and cause disease when not in balance. Theories regarding the 4 humors—blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm—expanded over the years, and in the 2nd century CE, Galen published a treatise which associated a specific temperament with each humor. What humor was thought to cause a melancholic disposition? More...
This Day in History

First Computer Mouse Patented (1970)

While working at the Stanford Research Institute in the early 1960s, human-computer interaction pioneer Doug Engelbart invented the first computer mouse, so called because of its resemblance to the small rodent. His mouse was constructed out of a wooden box and two wheels set perpendicular to one another. The rotation of each wheel was translated into motion along one axis, and this information was relayed to the computer to indicate the mouse's position. What is the proper plural of "mouse"? More...
Today's Birthday

Martin Scorsese (1942)

Scorsese is an American film director whose movies often deal with violent and obsessive aspects of modern America and the themes of sin and redemption. He won critical attention for his film Mean Streets in 1973 and went on to make a number of acclaimed films, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and The Departed, for which he finally received the Academy Award for best director. What vocation did Scorsese pursue before attending film school? More...
Quotation of the Day
Beauty ought to look a little surprised: it is the emotion that best suits her face. The beauty who does not look surprised, who accepts her position as her due—she reminds us too much of a prima donna.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970)

Idiom of the Day

have (one's) heart in (something)

To be emotionally and enthusiastically involved in something; to do or undertake something with passion and zeal. More...
Today's Holiday

Festival Indígena (Jayuya Indian Festival) (2023)

The Jayuya Indian Festival was started in 1969, when new traces of the Taíno Indian culture were discovered in and around Jayuya, Puerto Rico. Festival events include Indian ceremonies and dances as well as concerts featuring fotutos (conch shells) as instruments. There is a ceremonial Taino ball game that resembles soccer, and a village (yukayeque) of thatched-roof huts that enables visitors to see how the Indians lived. Visitors can attend lectures on the Taino language and customs or take a tour of the caves containing the Indian drawings. More...
Word Trivia

Today's topic: pulling

pull out all the stops - Refers to the knobs and levers on a church organ that control the pipes; pulling out all the stops will result in the full range of pitch and maximum volume. More...

track - Borrowed from Old French trac, from Middle Dutch trek, "pulling," or trekken, "pull." More...

traction, tractor - Traction and tractor trace back to Latin tractus, "drawing, pulling," and trahere, "draw, pull." More...

tractive - Refers to power exerted in pulling, especially by a machine. More...

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