Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, October 22, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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preceptor
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Possessive Determiners vs. Possessive Personal PronounsPossessive determiners are often confused with possessive personal pronouns ("mine," "yours," "his," "hers," "its," "ours," "theirs") since some of the forms overlap. How do possessive pronouns differ from possessive determiners? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Bombardier BeetlesNamed for their explosive defense mechanism, bombardier beetles forcefully expel an acrid, volatile fluid from their abdomens when threatened. The ejection of this fluid, a mixture of two chemicals that boil upon contact and vaporize into a jet of gas that can kill insects and small creatures, is accompanied by a loud cracking sound. Where can bombardier beetles be found? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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.jpg) The Scilly Naval Disaster (1707)Celebrated English Admiral Cloudesley Shovell was returning from an abortive attack on Toulon, France, in 1707 when his ship and several others struck rocks off the Scilly Islands, southwest of England. In one of the greatest maritime disasters in British history, Shovell is believed to have drowned along with as many as 2,000 sailors. According to one of the many legends about the disaster, Shovell reached the shore alive, only to be murdered by a woman who stole what priceless object from him? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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.jpg) Doris Lessing (1919)Lessing is a British writer and winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature. Born in Iran, she moved with her family to a farm in what was Southern Rhodesia in 1924 and lived there until 1949, when she settled in England and began her writing career. Her work often addresses social and political themes, particularly the place of women in society. The Golden Notebook, her most widely read novel, is considered a feminist classic, although Lessing herself has said what about feminists? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 There is, one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath.Herman Melville (1819-1891) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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don't go there— Don't get into that topic of conversation; I don't want to talk about that. Used humorously, the phrase usually implies that the speaker has a potentially scandalous, sensitive, or otherwise complicated association with the topic. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Simchat Torah (2019)This Jewish holiday, which follows Sukkot, celebrates the annual completion of the public reading of the Torah and the beginning of a new reading cycle. The hand-lettered scrolls of the Torah are removed from the Ark (a box-like container) and paraded around the synagogue amidst singing and dancing. Simchat Torah means "rejoicing in the law," which is as good a description as any of what takes place on this day. To be chosen to read the final verses of the last book, Deuteronomy, or to read the opening verses of the first book, Genesis, is considered a great honor. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sentcoals to Newcastle - Something brought or sent to a place where it is already plentiful; it is a reference to the English town of Newcastle upon Tyne, historically a major coal exporter. More... envoy - Pronounced EN-voy, it literally means "sent on one's way." More... epistle - From Greek epistole, "something sent to someone." More... India ink - Originally applied to Chinese and Japanese pigments made into solid blocks and sent to Europe through India. More... | |