Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, July 17, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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labyrinthine
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Object ComplementsSometimes a verb is not complete with only a direct object, especially when that direct object is a person. More information about the object's relationship with the verb is required to form a complete thought. This additional information is known as the "object complement." Without an object complement, what question are we left asking about the direct object? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 DerringersThe term "derringer" derives from a misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer, a famous maker of small pocket pistols in the 1800s. Deringer's popular design was copied by gun makers across the globe, and "derringer" soon became a generic term for any pocket pistol. Derringers, which are usually the smallest handguns of a given caliber, are especially popular among women because they can be easily concealed in a purse or stocking. What notorious assassin used an original Deringer pistol? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 "Wrong Way" Corrigan Flies from New York to Ireland (1938)In 1938, American aviator Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan made his infamous, unauthorized transatlantic flight from New York to Ireland. He claimed that during a planned flight to California, foggy conditions and a misread compass made him fly thousands of miles in the wrong direction without noticing. In the years leading up to his "navigational error," he had applied several times for permission to make the transoceanic trip, but was always rejected. How was he punished for his actions? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 James Cagney (1899)After cutting his teeth on stage as a vaudeville and Broadway song-and-dance man, Cagney established himself as the quintessential gangster in the 1931 film The Public Enemy. He continued to play thugs in films like Angels with Dirty Faces and White Heat and won an Oscar for his performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy. He had a passion for farming and died on his secluded farm in 1986. In 1981, he broke a 20-year retirement to appear in one of his last films. What was it? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge.L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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hot desking— The act or practice of sharing desks or workstations between employees in an office so as to cut down on the amount of office space required. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 British Open (2020)The British Open is the oldest and one of the most prestigious international golf championship tournaments in the world. It began in 1860 at the then 12-hole Prestwick course in Scotland and is now rotated among select golf courses in England and Scotland. The Open has a special cachet for golfers since Scotland is considered, if not the birthplace of golf, the place where it developed into its present form played with ball, club, and hole. The game may actually have originated in Holland, where they called it kolven, but golf in Scotland goes back before 1457. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: tossfungo - A baseball drill in which a batter tosses a ball in the air and hits it as it descends, probably from Scottish fung, "to pitch, toss, fling." More... jactitating, jactitation, jactation - If you toss and turn at night, you are jactitating; jactitation or jactation is restless tossing or twitching. More... saute - A form of French sauter, it means "to leap or cause to toss." More... walk - First meant "roll," "toss," or "move about; go"—from Old English wealcan, "to roll." More... | |