Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, February 6, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cleaver
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Collective Nouns: Singular vs. Plural UseCollective nouns usually function as singular nouns in a sentence, but they are occasionally used as plurals, too. How do we determine in which manner the collective noun should be used? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Brain MushroomDespite its recognized toxicity, the false morel mushroom Gyromitra esculenta is a popular delicacy in Europe, especially in Scandinavia. Also called a "brain mushroom" because it looks like a dark red brain, it can be deadly if it is not carefully and thoroughly cooked or dried. Some experts advise boiling and rinsing it twice to draw out the toxin, but even this process can be dangerous, as the toxin can build up in the air when boiled. Why do some deny that the mushroom is poisonous? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Washington Naval Treaty Is Signed (1922)Also known as the Five-Power Treaty, the Washington Naval Treaty was an agreement signed in the wake of World War I in an effort to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. Signed by five of the major Allied Powers—Great Britain, the US, Japan, France, and Italy—the treaty limited the tonnage of aircraft carriers and capital ships and imposed proportional limits on the number of warships each signatory nation could maintain. For how long did signatories adhere to these terms? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mary Leakey (1913)The daughter of an artist, Leakey had little formal education, but her love of archaeology led her to work on excavations, initially as an illustrator. Digging in Africa—often with her husband, fellow archaeologist Louis Leakey—she made some of anthropology's most significant finds, including a 20-million-year-old skull and a set of hominid footprints preserved in volcanic ash. When she was a youth, what incident resulted in her being expelled from a convent school for the second time? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 We must have ideals and try to live up to them, even if we never quite succeed. Life would be a sorry business without them. With them it's grand and great.Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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penguin suit— slang A man's formal evening wear, i.e., a tuxedo. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Waitangi Day (2022)A national public holiday in New Zealand, February 6 commemorates the signing of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, in which the Maori natives agreed to coexist peacefully with the European settlers. It was not observed as a public holiday outside the North Island until it became New Zealand Day in 1973. It was observed as such until 1976, when it again became known as Waitangi Day. Waitangi is located on the Bay of Islands at the northern end of the North Island, and the day on which the treaty was signed is observed there by the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Maoris each year. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: stretchingaforcing - The term for stretching the amount of a dish to accommodate more people. More... extend, extent - Are based on Latin pandere, "stretch." More... oscitancy, pandiculation - Oscitancy is the act of yawning; pandiculation is an all-over stretching and yawning, as upon waking, from Latin pandere. More... racking one's brain - Figuratively, it means stretching, and is derived from the Tower of London's torture method. More... | |