Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 14, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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atonement
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Degrees of Comparison - AdjectivesAdjectives can be inflected (changed in form) to compare a quality between two nouns—this form is known as the comparative degree. What suffix is added to the end of the adjective to form the comparative degree? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Breathalyzers"Breathalyzer" is a trademarked brand name that has become a generic term for any device that uses a breath sample to estimate blood alcohol content (BAC)—often of those suspected of driving drunk. Breathalyzers use infrared spectrophotometers, electrochemical fuel cells, and other technologies to render BAC estimates that are often used later in criminal prosecutions. Why are police officers supposed to keep suspects under observation for at least 15 minutes before administering a test? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Group of Explorers Reaches South Pole (1911)Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had been planning for a trip to the North Pole until he heard that someone had beaten him to it. Instead, he and his team set sail for Antarctica. There, they spent nearly a year preparing for the final two-month trek that made them the first people to reach the South Pole. With good equipment and plenty of sled dogs, the team was extremely well prepared compared to other polar expeditions of the day, some of which ended badly. How was their clothing better? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 George VI, King of Great Britain and Ireland (1895)The subject of the Academy Award-winning 2010 film The King's Speech, George VI became king of the United Kingdom following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. George was an important symbolic leader of the British people during World War II, supporting the wartime leadership of Winston Churchill and visiting his armies on the battlefield. He earned the respect of his people by scrupulously observing the responsibilities of a constitutional monarch and by overcoming what handicap? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A new philosophy generally means in practice the praise of some old vice.Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hindsight is (always) 20/20— It is easier to clearly reevaluate past actions or decisions than when they are being made or done; things are clearer or more obvious when they are reflected upon. A reference to the visual acuity of normal eyesight (20/20 vision). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Christkindlesmarkt (2023)Christkindlesmarkt is the biggest and best known of the Christmas markets of Germany. The market in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, has been held since 1697 in the city's Hauptmarkt ("main market"). More than 100 booths are set up to offer only goods directly related to Christmas, and food booths sell Nuremberg's specialties—Lebkuchen, or gingerbread, and Zwetschgenmannlein, which are little people-shaped confections. The three-week festival is inaugurated with choral singing, the pealing of church bells, and illumination of a creche. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: socialcommunity - It can refer to group of animals or plants living together and was first used to refer to a "body of commons" or a social or political entity. More... party - Latin partitum, "part, side," became party, with the senses "political group" and, in the 18th century, "social gathering." More... mores, anomie - Mores is the Latin plural of mor/mos and means "acquired customs and manners"; social and moral conventions are mores, and the lack of these is anomie. More... sociable, social, society - Sociable, social, society, etc. originate in Latin socius, "companion, fellow," or "colleague." More... | |