Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, March 12, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cultivable
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Free Indirect SpeechFree indirect speech (also known as free indirect discourse) is used to indicate the thoughts or mental processes of a character. Where is this type of speech most commonly found? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Cotton CandyThis kid-pleasing treat is often sold at fairs, circus shows, and other jovial events. It is usually tinted pink, though purple and blue are also popular colors. It is made by machines with a central bowl where sugar is melted and spun out through a myriad of tiny holes where it solidifies and is caught by a ring. The operator then catches the candy on a stick, forming a confection that is often larger than the human head. In what country is cotton candy known as "fairy floss"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 California's St. Francis Dam Fails (1928)Constructed between 1924 and 1926, the St. Francis Dam was a concrete gravity-arch dam designed to act as a reservoir to store water for the Los Angeles Aqueduct. In 1928, the dam catastrophically failed, and the resulting flood of 12 billion US gallons (45 billion liters) of water killed more than 450 people. The dam's collapse was the worst American civil engineering failure of the 20th century and remains the second-greatest loss of life disaster in California's history, after what event? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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.jpg) Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott (1832)Boycott was the estate agent for the Earl of Erne, an absentee landowner in County Mayo, Ireland, at a time when the Irish Land League was pressing for agrarian reform. In 1880, Boycott's refusal to reduce rents for tenant farmers, combined with his attempted eviction of 11 of them, led the League to launch a campaign of ostracism and isolation—now known as a "boycott"—against him and his family. Upon finding himself suddenly without servants, farmhands, or local services, Boycott did what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 My only objection to the custom of giving books as Christmas presents is perhaps the selfish one that it encourages and keeps in the game a number of writers who would be far better employed if they abandoned the pen and took to work.P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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get down to work— To begin being serious about something; to begin attending to business or work at hand. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Gregory's Day (2024)St. Gregory, a sixth-century monk who became pope, is also the patron saint of schoolchildren and scholars. In Belgium, schoolchildren rise early on March 12 and parade through the streets dressed as "little soldiers of St. Gregory." They carry a big basket for gifts and are accompanied by a noisy drummer. The young girls in the procession wear big shoulder bows that resemble the wings of a butterfly. They march from house to house, pausing at each door to sing a song and to ask for treats, and the procession always includes a group of angels. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: worrycark - The noun means "solicitude or sympathetic feeling"; the verb means to fret anxiously or to cause distress or worry. More... distrait, distraught - Distrait means "absent-minded as a result of apprehension, worry, etc."—while distraught means "agitated" and "bewildered, distracted." More... ish kabbible - Meaning "I should worry," it is of unknown origin, but is perhaps derived from Yiddish nisht gefidlt, popularized (and perhaps coined) by comedienne Fanny Brice. More... kedogenous - "Brought about by worry or anxiety." More... | |