Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, October 5, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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discombobulate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using the Present Continuous Tense with "Always"There is a special usage when the adverb "always" is used between "be" and the present participle. Rather than literally meaning that the action always happens (as you might expect), it instead means that that action very often happens. What else does this construction convey? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Speakers' CornerOften a scene of lively debate, a speakers' corner is an area designated for public speech-making. The northeast corner of London's Hyde Park may be the most famous speakers' corner, having hosted such orators as Karl Marx and George Orwell. However, speakers' corners exist—with varying degrees of freedom—around the world, including countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Trinidad and Tobago. One location in the Netherlands, the Spreeksteen of Amsterdam, was created after what notable murder? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 First Episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus Airs on BBC (1969)A highly influential British sketch comedy show, Monty Python's Flying Circus ran until 1974 and subsequently spawned four movies and several live shows. With scenes such as "The Dead Parrot Sketch" and "The Spanish Inquisition," the innovative, disjointed, non-traditional show became a cult favorite noted for its surreal, sarcastic, innuendo-laden humor. Interspersed throughout the show were Terry Gilliam's iconic animations, including a giant, crushing foot taken from what painting? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Larry Fine (1902)Fine was just a toddler when his left arm was badly burned by acid used in his father's Philadelphia jewelry store. To help strengthen his damaged arm, Fine learned to play violin, which led him to a career in vaudeville. In the 1920s, he joined the comedy act that would become The Three Stooges, catapulting him—and his trademark unruly hair—to fame in several feature films and hundreds of shorts. As a young man, what else did he do to strengthen his arm until his father made him stop? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Diplomacy, n.: The patriotic art of lying for one's country.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a people person— Someone who is particularly gregarious, affable, or outgoing; someone with great interpersonal communication skills. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Portugal Republic Day (2025)This national holiday commemorates the establishment of the Portuguese Republic on this day in 1910, which ended over two centuries of the monarchical rule of the Portuguese royal family, the House of Braganca. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: measuredApgar score - A measure of a baby's well-being taking into consideration respiratory effort, skin color, heart rate, muscle tone, and sense of smell (named for American anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar). More... datum line - The horizontal or base line, from which the heights of points are reckoned or measured, as in the plan of a railway, etc. More... scantling - Means "measured or prescribed size" or a "set of standard dimensions." More... military time - Time measured on a 24-hour scale of 0100-2400 hours. More... | |