Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, March 6, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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hoarfrost
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Adverbial Prepositional PhrasesAdverbial prepositional phrases that modify adjectives and adverbs can be difficult to identify because the adjectives and adverbs are usually paired with verbs. Remember that these prepositional phrases always follow the adjective or adverb and will contain information specific to the adjective and adverb. What is the prepositional phrase in the following sentence? "I was delighted with the results." More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Gamma KnifeThe Gamma Knife is a device used in stereotactic radiosurgery to produce precise lesions in specific areas of pathologic tissue in deep-seated central nervous system structures. The apparatus uses 201 beams of gamma radiation, which are carefully aimed to converge on a specific intracranial target, to kill cancer cells, shrink tumors, and treat vascular anomalies while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. What specialized equipment do patients wear during treatment? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Nasir Khusraw Embarks on Seven-Year Middle East Journey (1046)Khusraw, a Persian poet, philosopher, scholar, and traveler, is considered one of the great writers of Persian literature. His most famous work is the Safarnama, an account of his seven-year journey through the Islamic world, during which time he made pilgrimages to the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina and visited many cities, including Jerusalem and Cairo. The work stands out as the most authentic account of the Islamic world at that time. He traversed what distance in those seven years? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (1619)Cyrano de Bergerac was a French writer and freethinker who satirized the customs and beliefs of his time. He wrote two romances about visits to the moon that are classics of early modern science fiction and inspired later writers such as Jonathan Swift. His swaggering personality, evinced by the many duels he fought over insults to his unusually large nose, was romanticized by Edmond Rostand in the verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac. How much of the play is an accurate reflection of his life? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Idleness, like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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not have all day— To be in a rush; to not have much or any time to spare. Usually used in the present tense. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of Excited Insects (2024)Known as Gyeongchip in Korea and as Ching Che in China, the Feast of Excited Insects marks the transition from winter to spring. It is the day when the insects are said to come back to life after hibernating all winter. In China, it is the day when "the dragon raises his head," summoning the insects back to life, and people perform various rituals designed to prepare for the onslaught. In Korea, this is one of 24 days in the lunar calendar that marks the beginning of a new season. Farmers prepare their fields and begin planting their barley, cabbage, and other vegetables. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: swordsheath - Seems to have first been a split stick that a sword could be inserted into. More... spades - As a suit in a deck of cards, it has nothing to do with spades as tools, but comes from Spanish espada, "sword." More... spay - A shortening of a French word espeer, meaning "cut with a sword." More... gladiator, gladiate - The main Latin word for sword was gladius, from which came gladiator; gladiate is an adjective meaning sword-shaped. More... | |