Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, November 22, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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expunge
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using Hyphens with Single-Word Compound VerbsWe sometimes use other parts of speech, especially nouns and adjectives, to form verbs that describe a very specific action. When these are combined into a single word, we often use a hyphen to eliminate possible confusion when reading. What is an example? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Town and Gown"Town and gown" is a phrase used to describe the two distinct communities of a university town: the non-academic "town" community and the university "gown" community. Since the establishment of universities in the Middle Ages, when students enjoyed certain privileges due to their ties with the clergy, the relationship between universities and their surrounding communities has often been a source of tension. What university was established after a fight between townspeople and Oxford scholars? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Toy Story, First Feature-Length Computer-Generated Film, Is Released (1995)Released to universal acclaim, Toy Story was the first feature-length computer-generated film, as well as the first such film from Pixar Studios. Steve Jobs had purchased Pixar in 1986, but the company had yet to find its niche. When its 1988 short film Tin Toy won an Oscar, Disney took notice, and the two companies soon formed a partnership that would prove to be extremely successful, beginning with the release of Toy Story. What popular toy was cut from the original plot? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 André Gide (1869)A prolific and unconventional French writer, Gide was controversial for his confessional works, his frank defense of homosexuality, and his espousal of Communism—and subsequent disavowal of it after a visit to the Soviet Union. A champion of society's victims, he spurred reform of French colonial policy in Africa with books such as Travels in the Congo. In one of his most famous quotes, Gide advised that one should believe those who seek the truth and reserve doubt for whom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature; and the error is ineradicable.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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take a telling-off— To be scolded, rebuked, or reprimanded, as for a wrongdoing. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Cecilia's Day (2025)According to her apocryphal acts, which date from the fifth century, St. Cecilia was a Roman from a noble family who was put to death for her Christian beliefs; how she became the patron saint of music and musicians is not exactly known. In 1683, a musical society was formed in London especially for the celebration of St. Cecilia's Day. It held a festival each year at which a special ode was sung. The poet John Dryden composed his "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day" in 1687 for this purpose. There are still many choirs and musical societies that bear her name today. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: keyboardfallboard - The hinged protective covering that protects the keyboard of a piano when it is not being played. More... finger board - The part of a stringed instrument against which the fingers press the strings to vary the tone—as well as the keyboard of a piano, organ, etc. More... home key - The home key is either of two keys on a keyboard acting as the base position for one's fingers in touch-typing (left F, right J). More... octothorpe - The pound key on a keyboard or keypad is technically an octothorpe. More... | |