Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, November 27, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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reprove
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Direct SpeechDirect speech refers to the direct quotation of something that someone else said. It is sometimes known as "quoted speech." Because the quotation happened in the past, we put the reporting verb into what tense? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 FriendshipThe Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that "friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies." He divided friendships into three types: the useful, friendship as a common enterprise; the pleasant, friendship as entertaining companionship; and the good or virtuous, friendship as mutual esteem. Modern studies have linked friendships with personal wellbeing, yet studies indicate that, at least in the US, friendships are on the decline. How many confidants does the average US citizen have? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Great Storm of 1703: First Eddystone Lighthouse Is Destroyed (1703)For five years, the Eddystone Lighthouse guided mariners safely past the treacherous Eddystone Rocks off the southwestern coast of the UK. Then, a catastrophic hurricane struck. The Great Storm claimed hundreds of ships, thousands of lives, and the Eddystone Lighthouse—along with its builder, Henry Winstanley, who was inside at the time. Fire destroyed the second lighthouse on the site, and erosion led to the dismantling of the third. How did operators mark the 100th anniversary of the fourth? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Anders Celsius (1701)Celsius was a Swedish astronomer who published observations of the aurora borealis and supervised the building of an observatory at Uppsala, Sweden, where he pioneered the measurement of the brightness of stars. Today, however, he is better known for an invention that has been adopted by almost the entire world—the centigrade, or Celsius, thermometer. Originally, his temperature scale had 0 as its boiling point and 100 as its freezing point. Who reversed the numbers after Celsius died? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.Charles Dickens (1812-1870) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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thanks for nothing!— An expression of annoyance, exasperation, or disappointment when someone does something unhelpful or disagreeable. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Lopburi Monkey Banquet (2025)Yongyuth Kijwattananuson first offered this banquet to the long-tailed macaque monkeys who live in the city of Lop Buri, Thailand, in 1988, to thank them for making his hotel so attractive to visitors. It has since become an institution, especially for the hundreds of monkeys who normally spend their time begging and stealing food from townspeople and tourists. Dozens of chefs prepare numerous dishes featuring fruit and vegetables on tables covered with red tablecloths. The monkeys eventually approach the tables to feast on the offerings, playing and throwing food in the process. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: squeezeanguish, anxious, anxiety - Anguish, anxious, and anxiety come from Latin angere, "to choke, squeeze, strangle." More... kvetch - To complain chronically or habitually, from Yiddish kvetshn, "pinch, squeeze; complain." More... squash - As a verb, it is an alteration of quash, and means, generally, to "crush, squeeze, or suppress." More... tapioca - Comes from Tupi-Guarani tipi, "residue," and ok/og, "squeeze out." More... | |