Daily Content Archive
(as of Monday, January 1, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Adjectival Prepositional PhrasesWhen a prepositional phrase modifies a noun, pronoun, gerund, or noun phrase (all of which function grammatically as nouns), it is considered to function as an adjective within the sentence. We call these "adjectival prepositional phrases," or sometimes just "adjective prepositional phrases." Where do they always appear in relation to the noun they are modifying? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Munchausen Syndrome by ProxyFabricated or induced illness (FII), originally and more commonly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, involves a caregiver feigning or inducing an illness in another person, usually to gain control over the victim as well as to elicit attention or sympathy from others. The caregiver is usually a parent, guardian, or spouse, and the victim is usually a vulnerable child or adult. Is FII listed as a recognized mental disorder in the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Times Square Ball Drops for the First Time (1908)In 1904, The New York Times moved its headquarters to what is now known as Times Square. That December, it held a New Year's Eve celebration that proved to be quite popular. A few years later, the newspaper created an illuminated time ball—then a well-known dockside device by which sailors set their ships' clocks—that would fall at midnight. The annual ball-drop outlived both the newspaper's address on the square and the use of time balls in general. What was Times Square's original name? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Jerome David "J. D." Salinger (1919)Salinger published his first and only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, in 1951. An immediate success, it generated a cult-like dedication among readers. Though he also released a handful of short story collections, Salinger ceased publishing after 1963 and spent the rest of his life as a recluse in Cornish, New Hampshire. After his death in 2010, rumors swirled that he had left behind a number of finished works. According to one of Salinger's neighbors, how many novels did he complete? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Sympathy constitutes friendship; but in love there is a sort of antipathy, or opposing passion. Each strives to be the other, and both together make up one whole.Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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look askance upon (someone or something)— To view or regard something in a disapproving or distrustful manner. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cuba Liberation Day (2025)This national public holiday commemorates the overthrow of the military government of Fulgencio Batista (1901-1973) led by Fidel Castro (b. 1926) that succeeded on January 1, 1959. July 26 is National Day, another public holiday marking the beginning of the revolution Castro led in 1953. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: weavenettles - Got their name because people used to weave them into nets. More... pretext - From Latin praetexere, "to disguise," from prae, "in front," and texere, "weave"—as something serving to conceal plans. More... texture - Once referred to a woven fabric, from Latin texere, "to weave." More... wasp - The insect traces back to an Indo-European root meaning "weave." More... | |