Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, November 29, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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malefactor
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Phrasal VerbsPhrasal verbs are verb phrases that have idiomatic meanings—that is, their meaning is not obvious from the individual words that make up the phrase. What parts of speech typically make up a phrasal verb? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Premature BurialIn the late 1800s, fears of being mistakenly assumed dead and accidentally buried alive led to the invention of "safety coffins." To avoid such a fate, US President George Washington requested on his deathbed that his burial be delayed to ensure that he had truly died. Premature burial can also be intentional. Saint Oran was buried alive as a human sacrifice in Scotland in the 6th century. Later, he was dug up and found to be alive, but he was supposedly hurriedly reburied after saying what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Natalie Wood Drowns (1981)At the age of 43, actress Natalie Wood, who first won acclaim as a child for her role in Miracle on 34th Street and went on to become a successful film star, drowned after apparently falling overboard following a night of drinking on her yacht. Though the death was ruled an accident, a woman on a nearby boat reported hearing cries for help that night. Wood had been spending a holiday weekend aboard the yacht with her husband, actor Robert Wagner. Who else was aboard the yacht that night? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Clive Staples "C. S." Lewis (1898)Lewis was an Irish-British scholar noted for his witty explorations of Christianity, as well as for his classic series of children's fantasy novels, The Chronicles of Narnia, which includes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He also wrote The Screwtape Letters, a satirical novel in which an experienced devil teaches his young charge about temptation. During World War I, Lewis made a pact with a fellow soldier before the man was killed. How did Lewis keep his promise? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the specter which had haunted my midnight pillow.Mary Shelley (1797-1851) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be the business— To be exceptionally great, excellent, high-quality, or skillful. Primarily heard in UK, Ireland. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 St. Andrew's Eve (2025)The eve of St. Andrew's Day is a special night for young Polish girls who want to find husbands. They play Andrzejki, or "Andrew's games," a kind of fortune telling. They break off dry branches from cherry trees, place them in wet sand, and tend them carefully for the next few weeks. If the branch blooms by Christmas, it is believed that they will marry within the year. Pouring liquid wax into cold water is another popular method of foretelling their romantic futures. The shapes formed by the hardened wax often provide clues with which they can read their fate. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: princeadmiral - First used in English to mean "an emir or prince under the Sultan," coming from Arabic amir al, "commander of"; admiral was originally a sea lord due to the office of amir-al-bahr or amir-al-ma (Arabic), "ameer/emir of the sea." More... prince - Derived from Latin princeps, "chief man" or "leading citizen." More... tycoon - Comes from Japanese tai, "great," and kun, "prince, lord," from Chinese da, "great," and jun, "prince, ruler." More... whipping boy - Meaning "scapegoat," the phrase derives from the boy formerly raised with a prince or other young nobleman and whipped for the latter's misdeeds. More... | |