Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, September 24, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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annulus
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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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 The Water ClockThe clepsydra, or water clock, is an ancient timekeeper that operates by measuring the regulated flow of liquid into or out of a vessel. It is believed to have been used in Egypt as early as 2,000 BCE, making it one of the earliest known time-measurement devices. Early water clocks were calibrated with a sundial, and they remained the most accurate timekeeping devices until the invention of the pendulum clock in the 17th century. When did knowing the time become important to the common man? 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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 Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin (1739)Potemkin was a Russian army officer who helped bring Catherine II to power in 1762. After fighting in the Russo-Turkish War, he became Catherine's lover and perhaps the most powerful man in Russia. He played an important role in the annexing of the Crimea, but he underestimated the cost of colonizing it and left many projects incomplete. His success in disguising his shortcomings led to the claim that when he gave Catherine a tour of the region, he showed her "Potemkin villages," which are what? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 If youth did not matter so much to itself it would never have the heart to go on.Willa Cather (1873-1947) | |
| 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: proveprobe, prove, probable - Latin probare, "approve, prove, test," is the source of English probe and prove. From that came Latin probabilis, "provable," which became English probable. More... sooth, soothsayer, soothe - Sooth, "true, truth," or "that which is," is part of soothsayer; it is related to soothe, which once meant "assent to be true; say yes to," or "to prove or show a fact to be true." More... approve - Its original sense was "prove, demonstrate." More... rebut, refute - To rebut a statement is to offer clear evidence or a reasoned argument against it; to refute a statement is to prove it wrong (neither means "contradict" or "deny"). More... | |