Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, December 13, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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smorgasbord
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Predicate NounsNouns that follow linking verbs are known as predicate nouns (sometimes known as predicative nouns). These serve to rename or re-identify the subject. If the noun is accompanied by any direct modifiers (such as articles, adjectives, or prepositional phrases), the entire noun phrase acts in what way? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Automatic WritingUsed as a form of channeling by proponents of Spiritualism and the New Age movement, automatic writing is a writing process that is performed without conscious thought or deliberation, at times, while the writer is in a trancelike state. Practitioners often attribute the resulting message to aliens, the deceased, the subconscious, or even God. Skeptics note, however, that there is no evidence to support such claims. Which books have allegedly been written using this technique? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Chinese River Dolphin Declared Functionally Extinct (2006)Found only in China's Yangtze River, the baiji was a pale, nearly blind freshwater dolphin species nicknamed the "Goddess of the Yangtze." Though it had lived there for millennia, its population declined precipitously in the late 20th century as an industrialized China made heavy use of the river. Many were injured by fishing gear and boat propellers. The species was finally declared functionally extinct after a six-week search failed to locate any baiji. When was the last baiji caught on film? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Ella Baker (1903)Though Baker was not as well known as some of the other leaders of the US civil rights movement, she spent more than 50 years as a behind-the-scenes activist. Baker grew up in rural North Carolina listening to her grandmother's stories about slavery. After college, she moved to New York City and became involved in social justice activism. She worked with student groups, political organizations, and religious coalitions to facilitate collective action. What prompted her to protest against Italy? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It's so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn't it?Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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throw an eye on (something)— To inspect something casually and quickly but with attention to detail. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Susuharai (2025)In Japan, many people choose to give their houses a thorough cleaning at year's end. Worn or broken furniture and utensils and items that have been lost are replaced. New tatami mats, the thick straw mats on which people sit and sleep, are brought in, and damage to the paper sliding doors in traditional Japanese houses is repaired. In some areas, it is customary to tie pounded rice cakes (mochi-bana, "rice-cake flowers") to the branches of willow trees as an offering to the gods. Friends and co-workers may also throw "year-end forgetting parties" known as bonen-kai. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: slimeasphalt - Its synonyms are mineral pitch, Jews' pitch, and slime. More... ooze - As in mud or slime, it traces back to an Old Norse word meaning "puddle, stagnant pool," and originally meant juice or sap from a plant or fruit. More... slime - Related to Latin limus, "mud, slime." More... mucous, mucus - Mucous is the adjective from Latin meaning "slimy," and mucus is the noun from Latin but cognate with Greek mussesthai, "blow the nose." More... | |