Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, June 24, 2024)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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facile
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Subject-Verb Agreement with Uncountable NounsBecause uncountable nouns cannot be plural, it is very important to use the correct subject-verb agreement. What form of a verb must uncountable nouns take? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 ChatterbotsIf you had a recent conversation with ELIZA, PARRY, A.L.I.C.E., or ELLA, you were talking to a chatterbot, a computer program designed to simulate an intelligent conversation with human users through auditory or textual prompts. Though many appear to be interpreting human input before providing a response, most chatterbots simply scan for keywords and pull a similar reply from a database. Some people find these sorts of conversations engaging. What book was allegedly written by a chatterbot? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 (1945)A month and a half after Nazi Germany surrendered to the USSR, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin ordered a celebratory parade through Moscow's Red Square. Thousands of troops from different regiments and fronts participated, accompanied by tanks and other military equipment. At one point, war veterans memorably threw down hundreds of Nazi banners at the foot of Lenin's mausoleum. According to legend, Stalin had initially planned to participate in the parade but changed his mind after what accident? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Saint John of the Cross (1542)Saint John of the Cross was a Spanish mystic, poet, and monastic reformer. A Carmelite monk, he was ordained a priest in 1567. The following year, he joined St. Teresa of Ávila in her effort to restore the Carmelites to their original austerity, cofounding the Discalced Carmelite order. He opened the first Discalced Carmelite monastery in 1569 and was imprisoned in 1577 for causing friction within the order. He escaped and later won high office in the order. What did he write while in prison? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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not your father's— Very modern or updated; no longer what an older generation would expect or be used to. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Encaenia Day (Oxford) (2025)In general terms, encaenia refers to the festivities celebrating the founding of a city or the dedication of a church. But in Oxford, England, Encaenia Day—sometimes referred to as Commemoration Day—is the day at the end of the summer term when the founders and benefactors of Oxford University are commemorated and honorary degrees are awarded to distinguished men and women. The ceremonies take place in the Sheldonian Theatre, built between 1664-68, which offers an exceptional view from its cupola of Oxford's spires and gargoyles. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: vaporatmosphere - Derives from Greek atmos, "vapor," and sphaira, "globe," and is literally "ball of vapor." More... brume, brumous - Brume is a poetic term meaning "mist, fog, or vapor"; brumous means "foggy." More... damp - The noun first meant "vapor, steam," or "smoke"—especially that which was harmful or noxious. More... transpire - Had an early sense of "emit as vapor through the surface"—from trans-, "through," and spirare, "breathe." More... | |