Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, September 20, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cupidity
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Good vs. WellA common stumbling block for native speakers and learners of English alike is the correct usage of "good" versus "well." In most instances, good is an attributive adjective directly describing a noun. What is "well"? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Language: What Is It?Humans are the only creatures to use a form of communication that scholars consider "language"—a system of spoken sounds or conventional symbols that communicates thought. Although some animals display similar social behavior, linguists are reluctant to term it language, instead describing it as "animal communication." Still, some animals have been taught certain features of human language. Why are most animal languages considered "closed"? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 James Meredith Is Barred from the University of Mississippi (1962)After a US federal court ruled that colleges could not deny admission to qualified students on the basis of race, civil rights activist James Meredith prepared to enter the segregated University of Mississippi. On the day of Meredith's enrollment, Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett stood in the doorway of the admissions office, physically blocking Meredith's entry, and informed him that his application was denied. Ten days later, Meredith returned—with 500 federal marshals. What happened then? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Maxwell Perkins (1884)After joining the publishing firm of Charles Scribner's Sons, Perkins became an enormously well-regarded editor with a genius for recognizing and fostering new talent. Though best known for the intensive editorial work that shaped Thomas Wolfe's sprawling manuscripts into publishable form, he also edited and published early works by then-unknown writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Erskine Caldwell. How many words did Perkins persuade Wolfe to cut from his first novel? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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I see what you did there— An expression used to acknowledge that one understands a joke made by someone else, and to either show appreciation or a lack thereof for the wit employed. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Mothman Festival (2020)In 1966, the first sightings of a creature that came to be known as Mothman were first reported in the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Since 2001, the Mothman Museum of Point Pleasant has sponsored the Mothman Festival. Those interested in the Mothman phenomena and in such paranormal topics as ghosts and UFOs gather in the town. Merchandise booths are set up along the town's main streets, and posters, books, T-shirts, and a host of other products are available. Music concerts are also held along the river. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: thickerconcave lens, convex lens - A concave lens is thinner at the center; a convex lens is thicker at the center. More... plank, board - A plank is thicker than a board. More... clotted cream - Cream made thicker and richer by cooking. More... skin - The term for the thin, tight covering on carrots, potatoes, grapes, and peaches—but also the thicker covering of bananas and avocados. More... | |