Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, September 24, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Ungradable AdverbsNot all adverbs are gradable in nature. For example, "absolutely," "completely," "totally," and "utterly" are all ungradable adverbs. These are used to modify ungradable adjectives, and they cannot move up and down on a scale. Do they have a comparative form? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Central AsiaAlthough the exact borders of the region known as Central Asia are debated, the nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are known as the Central Asian Republics—former republics of the Soviet Union. Sometimes said to include Afghanistan, Mongolia, and portions of China and Pakistan, the region has historically acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe and Eastern Asia, especially due to the Silk Road, which was what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Honda Motor Company Founded (1948)In 1946, Japanese mechanic, race car driver, and self-taught engineer Soichiro Honda founded a company that made small, efficient engines. It was incorporated as Honda Motor Co. two years later and originally produced only motorcycles. Its clean-burning CVCC engine created an automotive revolution, and its cars won a large share of the US market after they went on sale in 1963. Today, Honda is one of the world's leading automakers. What else besides cars and motorcycles does Honda manufacture? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825)Born free in Baltimore, Maryland—where slavery was still in place—Harper was raised by an abolitionist uncle and published her first volume of poetry when she 20 years old. In 1854, she gave her first anti-slavery lecture. Her second volume, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, made her the best known African-American poet of the era. Her short story, "The Two Offers," was probably the first such published work by any African American. How old was she when she published her first novel? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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like (one's) life depends on it— With maximum, possibly desperate, effort or energy (i.e., as if one is at risk of losing one's life if one fails). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Whole Enchilada Fiesta (2024)The Whole Enchilada Fiesta is marked by lots of red chili, lots of corn meal, lots of cheese, and lots of people. This festival in Las Cruces, New Mexico, draws about 100,000 people who scramble to get a taste of the world's biggest enchilada. It's 10 feet long and is made of 750 pounds of stone ground corn for the dough, 75 gallons of red chili sauce, and 175 pounds of cheese. The enchilada is prepared as the climactic Sunday afternoon event. Before this grand moment, there will have been a parade, street dances, arts and crafts exhibits, and a fun run. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: shouthue and cry - Somewhat redundant, as hue means "shout, make an outcry"; hue and cry was a medieval law requiring that all citizens within earshot give chase to a fleeing criminal. More... jubilate - From a Latin word meaning "shout for joy." More... slogan - From Scottish-Gaelic slaugh, "army," and gairm, "shout"—since the first slogans were actually battle cries. More... claim - The etymological notion behind claim is "calling out," from Latin clamare, "cry out, shout." More... | |