Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, June 3, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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materfamilias
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Evaluative Adverbs that Indicate a Degree of CertaintyThere are several types of evaluative adverbs, which can be classified according to their function. We can use evaluative adverbs to state how certain we are about something. "Obviously" is an evaluative adverb that we can use in this way. What are others? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Film CrewsWorking behind the scenes of on-camera talent, film crews are a vital part of the moviemaking process, taking care of such things as production, art, hair and makeup, cameras, sounds, visual effects, and lighting. Many of the positions within the crew have special names. For example, lighting and rigging technicians are known as grips. The key grip heads the department and works with the director of photography to arrange lighting and blocking. The best boy, also on the lighting team, does what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 "Casey at the Bat" Published in the San Francisco Examiner (1888)"Casey at the Bat" was one of the most popular poems in late 19th-century America. Recited in vaudeville performances and later taken up by many celebrities, the poem tells the story of an overconfident baseball player—the "mighty Casey"—who strikes out while trying to show off. Ernest Thayer, who wrote the poem, avoided acknowledging authorship for many years because he thought it was embarrassingly bad. Which two real-life towns have laid claim to being the Mudville mentioned in the poem? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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%2c_oil_on_canvas%2c_66_x_81_cm%2c_Mus%c3%a9e_d%27Art_Moderne_de_la_Ville_de_Paris...jpg) Raoul Dufy (1877)Dufy was a French designer and painter best known for his outdoor scenes of gaiety and leisure, like horse races, parades, and concerts. He also designed textiles and illustrated books. Dufy studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and experimented with Impressionism and, later, Fauvism. In the early 1920s, he developed his distinctive style characterized by sketchily drawn objects on bright, decorative backgrounds. Later, he completed one of the largest modern paintings, an ode to what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all the gravities of terrestrial life.H.G. Wells (1866-1946) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a mixed picture— A portrayal of a situation highlighting both positive and negative aspects of its nature or status. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Kazanlak Rose Festival (2025)Bulgaria supplies 90 percent of the world's rose attar, and roses are raised for food and medicinal purposes as well. The 10-day festival that celebrates Bulgaria's cultivation and export of roses is held in Kazanlak, a small town in what is known as the Valley of the Roses. It begins with a procession of farmers and young people dressed in native costume and carrying baskets for the ritual picking of the rose petals. Rose-decorated floats, costumed paraders, and folk dancers follow a route through all the nearby towns. Folk dance and song programs complete the festival activities. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: throwingmissile - First an adjective meaning "suitable for throwing." More... precipitate, precipitation - Precipitate is from Latin praecipitare, "to throw or drive headlong"; precipitation first meant the action of falling or throwing down. More... throw - Its original sense was "twist, turn," as in throwing a pot on a potter's wheel; it is not known how it evolved into "hurl, project." More... gone to pot - Comes from Elizabethan times, when leftover meat was thrown into a big pot for another meal. More... | |