Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, January 15, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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balderdash
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Concrete Uncountable NounsConcrete nouns that are uncountable tend to be substances (such as "air," "wood," and "water") or collective categories of things (such as "furniture," "homework," and "luggage"). Concrete uncountable nouns cannot take numbers or plural forms. Why not? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 BeelzebubIn the Old Testament, Beelzebub is a fertility god worshipped by the Philistines of Ekron and other Semitic groups. In the New Testament, he is the leader of the devils, sometimes identified with Satan and sometimes with his chief assistant. One of the fallen angels of John Milton's 17th-century epic Paradise Lost, Beelzebub is described by the author as being next to Satan in power. His name, Beelzebub, ultimately derives from the Hebrew words bá'al zebub, meaning "lord of" what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht Murdered While Under Arrest (1919)During WWI, Luxemburg and Liebknecht formed a revolutionary, antiwar socialist group in Germany that became the Spartacus League. After the proclamation of the German republic in 1918, they opposed the moderate government formed by the Social Democrats and advocated its violent overthrow, to be replaced by a dictatorship of the proletariat. They transformed their league into the German Communist Party and led an uprising, which was crushed. Arrested, they were murdered by whom while in custody? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Mihai Eminescu (1850)Eminescu is considered Romania's greatest poet. His first poems were published when he was just a teen, and a few years later he joined the literary circle Junimea and began contributing to its journal, Convorbiri literare. His lyrical, passionate, and revolutionary poems had a profound influence on Romanian letters. Eminescu suffered from periodic attacks of insanity and died shortly after one such attack. He is honored in a monument in the capital city of what Islamic country? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Poor nations are hungry, and rich nations are proud; and pride and hunger will ever be at variance.Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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a great many— A very large number of (people, things, etc.). More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Chilembwe Day (2020)John Chilembwe was born in the 1860s in the African nation of Nyasaland, now known as Malawi. Dismayed by the treatment of local peoples at the hands of plantation owners, whom he charged with racism and exploitation, he and a group of 200 followers staged an uprising. They were caught and killed on February 3, 1915. Chilembwe is now memorialized as a hero for African independence and is celebrated annually on January 15 in Malawi, which attained its independence in 1964. His image on a Malawi banknote attests to his enduring popularity as a symbol of Malawi freedom and patriotism. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pourdiffuse - Based on Latin diffundere, "pour out," from fundere, "pour," it means "to spread out." More... geyser - From Icelandic Geysir, "hot spring," from Old Norse geysa, "pour or rush forth." More... refund - First meant "pour back," and comes from Latin re- and fundere. More... gluck, glug - Gluck or glug is the light repetitive gurgling sound of liquid being poured from a bottle. More... | |