Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, May 11, 2025)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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faint-hearted
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Word Order for Prepositional Verbs vs. Phrasal VerbsThe order of a verb's preposition and its object can help determine whether a verb is prepositional or phrasal. The object of prepositional verbs always comes immediately after the preposition, which in turn comes immediately after the verb. For phrasal verbs, how are prepositions and objects arranged? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The TricksterA common figure in the folklore of many indigenous peoples, the trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, human, or anthropomorphic animal who is often an amoral and comic troublemaker. The trickster's rule-breaking frequently takes the form of tricks or thievery. An enduring archetype, the trickster can be cunning, foolish, or both and often inspires laughter even when considered sacred. In many cultures, the trickster is also a culture hero. Who are some examples of modern-day tricksters? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Pullman Strike Begins (1894)The Pullman Strike was a strike of about 50,000 US rail workers. It was initiated after the Pullman railcar company cut wages by 25%, yet kept rents high in the company-owned town where workers lived. The company refused arbitration, and the railway union called for a strike and nationwide boycott. Sympathy strikes followed in 27 states. In July, the president dispatched troops, who clashed with workers and broke the strike. The troops were sent in after workers halted trains carrying what? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Salvador Dalí (1904)Dalí was a Spanish painter whose striking images and eccentric personality made him the world's most recognized surrealist artist. Influenced by the theories and dream studies of Sigmund Freud, he painted nightmarishly absurd scenes in precise, realistic detail, creating worlds in which everyday objects are deformed or metamorphosed in strange ways. In his most famous work, The Persistence of Memory, limp watches melt in an eerie landscape. Which candy brand's logo was designed by Dalí? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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nut (something) out— To discover, through careful consideration, deliberation, or investigation, the solution to something. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Frost Saints' Days (2025)These three consecutive days in May mark the feasts of St. Mammertus, St. Pancras, and St. Servatus. In the wine-growing districts of France, a severe cold spell occasionally strikes at this time of year, inflicting serious damage on the grapevines; some in rural France have believed that it is the result of their having offended one of the three saints, who for this reason are called the "frost saints." French farmers have been known to show their displeasure over a cold snap at this time of year by flogging the statues and defacing the pictures of Mammertus, Pancras, and Servatus. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: staffbaguette - Means "little rod" and is derived from Latin baculum, "staff, stick." More... dough - As in money, it almost certainly came from bread (another slang term for it), because bread is the staff of life. More... staff - From Germanic stabaz, "stick"; its sense as "employees" is probably an allusion to the carrying of a staff of office by a person in charge. More... miter, mitre, crosier - The tall, pointy hat of a bishop or abbot is the miter/mitre—from Greek mitra, "headdress"; a crosier is a bishop's staff. More... | |