Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, April 7, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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cacography
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Ordering Multiple Adverbs of the Same CategoryIf we use more than one adverb to describe a verb, there is a general order in which the different categories of adverbs should appear—this is known as the "order of adverbs." When we use multiple adverbs of the same category to modify the same verb, how do we order them? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 MockumentariesA mockumentary is a fictional production filmed in the style of a documentary, often for comedic or dramatic effect. An early example of the genre is a 3-minute spoof report on the Swiss spaghetti harvest aired by the BBC as an April Fools' joke in 1957. Perhaps the most well-known mockumentary is 1984's This is Spinal Tap, which follows a fictional heavy-metal band. Other famous examples include The Blair Witch Project and Borat. What TV shows are considered mockumentaries? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 The World Health Organization Is Established (1948)World Health Day is observed every year on April 7 to mark the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO), a UN agency whose main objective is to promote "the highest possible level of health" in all people. Coordinating international efforts to prevent, control, and treat illness, it has worked to successfully eradicate smallpox and has made notable strides in checking polio, leprosy, cholera, and malaria. What steps has it taken to promote tobacco-free work environments? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Eleanora Fagan, AKA Billie Holiday (1915)Despite a deeply troubled upbringing, Holiday became one of the most celebrated and influential singers in jazz history. She was also one of its most tragic figures. She debuted in the 1930s and, after performing with Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Artie Shaw, embarked on a successful solo career. However, she suffered many personal setbacks, complicated by the drug addiction that eventually destroyed her career and hastened her death. How did she choose her stage name? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A married man forms married habits and becomes dependent on marriage just as a sailor becomes dependent on the sea.George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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have it large— To engage in or seek out pleasurable, hedonistic activities with great enthusiasm or intensity, especially dancing and drinking alcohol. Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Chaitra Purnima (2020)In southern India, Caitra Purnima is a time for Hindus to worship Chitra Gupta, also known as "the scribe of the gods." Tradition holds that while Brahma was meditating, Chitra Gupta was brought into being. He serves as the scribe to Yama, the ruler and judge of the dead; some Hindus believe that Chitra Gupta maintains the accounts of their good and bad deeds in the Agrasamdhani (main records). At Kanchipuram, near Madras in Tamil Nadu State, the image of Chitra Gupta is taken out in a procession. Devotees bathe in the holy waters of the River Chitra, which flows from the nearby hills. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sedimentdecant - Means to pour wine, taking pains not to disturb any sediment at the bottom; decant comes from Latin de- and canthus, "angular lip of a jug." More... allogenic, allochthonous - Geological material that has been transported and then accumulates elsewhere is allochthonous, and sediment carried by a river is allogenic. More... lithification - The process of compaction of sediment into stone. More... | |