Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, October 15, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dungaree
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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MitigatorsMitigators are adverbs or adverbials that modify adjectives and adverbs to reduce their intensity, making them seem less extreme or powerful. What is the difference between mitigators and intensifiers? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Chemical BurnsA chemical burn occurs when living tissue is exposed to any of six types of chemical substance. Acids, bases, oxidizers, solvents, and reducing agents can all cause chemical burns without the presence of a heat source. Burns may occur right away, though they may not be immediately evident. Symptoms include itching, bleaching or darkening of the skin, burning sensations, trouble breathing, and tissue necrosis. What substances can produce chemical burns hours after contact with human skin? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 I Love Lucy Premieres (1951)In 1951, Lucille Ball became one of the first movie stars—and the first woman—to headline a television series. The prototypical situation comedy, I Love Lucy became a spectacular success, showcasing Ball's comic energy, flair for slapstick, and chemistry with her co-star and real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, as they portrayed the zany middle-class couple Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The program is still syndicated today. What word was once prohibited from being used on I Love Lucy? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Virgil (70 BCE)Virgil was a Roman poet and the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the Aeneid, widely regarded as one of the greatest long poems in world literature. The Aeneid, Rome's national epic, tells the legendary story of the Trojan hero Aeneas, whose descendants become the founders of Rome. What later poet portrayed Virgil as the guide to Hell in his great literary classic The Divine Comedy? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A fool's wild speech confounds the wise.Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have the guts (to do something)— To have enough courage, conviction, or resolve (to do something). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 October Horse Sacrifice (2023)In ancient Rome, a chariot race was held in the Field of Mars on October 15. After the race was over, the right-hand horse of the winning chariot was killed as a sacrifice to Mars. There was a fight between the inhabitants of two different quarters of the city to see who could seize the head and place it in a designated spot. As soon as the tail was cut off, it was rushed to the king's hearth so that the blood would fall on the hearth. The rest of the blood was preserved until April 21, when it was mixed in a special ceremony and given to shepherds to burn to purify their flocks. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: understoodtranspicuous - Describing something easily seen through or understood. More... passive vocabulary - Contains lexemes we know and understand but do no actively use (in writing or speech). More... scrutable - Describing that which can be understood through scrutiny. More... esoteric - Its root sense is "for the initiates of a religious mystery," and it means "confined to or understood by just a few people." More... | |