Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, December 3, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Using "Would"The modal auxiliary verb "would" has a variety of functions and uses. It is used in place of "will" for things that happened or began in the past. It is also sometimes used in place of "will" to change the tone of a sentence in what way? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 "The Judgment""The Judgment" is a 1912 short story by Franz Kafka. He wrote it in a single sitting and described the experience as a creative outburst of the body and soul with the story emerging like a newborn "covered in filth and slime." He even allowed it to be published—most of his stories were only released posthumously. "The Judgment" focuses on a man named Georg Bendemann whose father condemns him to death by drowning, prompting Georg to jump off a bridge. What life events likely inspired Kafka? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Begins (1971)When East Pakistan demanded greater autonomy from West Pakistan in 1971, civil war erupted. Millions of East Pakistanis fled to India, which West Pakistan then attacked. India responded by attacking both East and West Pakistan, occupying the eastern half and throwing its support behind the independence movement. The war lasted 13 days and ended with Pakistan's surrender. East Pakistan then declared independence and became Bangladesh. Why was the Taj Mahal covered with burlap during the conflict? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Anna Freud (1895)The youngest daughter of renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud—the founder of psychoanalysis—Anna Freud went on to become a pioneer in child psychology. In 1938, she and her terminally ill father escaped Nazi-controlled Austria for London. There, she founded and directed a clinic for child therapy. Her writings include Normality and Pathology in Childhood and three books on the effects of war on children. Her own childhood was marked by what her father called her "age-old jealousy" of whom? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Some cynical Frenchman has said that there are two parties to a love-transaction: the one who loves and the other who condescends to be so treated.William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the rabbit died— The woman to whom we are referring is pregnant; the pregnancy test was positive. (From an early pregnancy test developed in 1931 in which the urine of a woman thought to be pregnant was injected into a female rabbit; if the woman was pregnant, the rabbit's ovaries would react. A common misconception at the time was that the rabbit would die if the woman was pregnant, hence the expression.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 International Day of Disabled Persons (2024)The years 1983-92 marked the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, a period during which great strides were made in raising awareness and enacting laws to improve the situation of individuals with disabilities. At the conclusion of this 10-year observance, December 3 was proclaimed the International Day of Disabled Persons. The UN General Assembly appealed to its members to observe this day with activities and events designed to promote the advantages of integrating disabled persons into every area of social, economic, and political life. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: recalllethologica - If you cannot recall the precise word for something, you have a case of lethologica, which may lead you to an obsession with trying to recall it—loganamnosis. More... remember - From Latin rememorari, "recall to mind." More... reduce, reduct - Reduce first meant "bring back or recall in memory" or "take back or refer (a thing) to its origin," from Latin reducere, "lead back"; reduct means "simplify." More... tartle - From Scottish, to hesitate in recognizing a person or thing, as happens when you are introduced to someone whose name you cannot recall; so you say, "Pardon my tartle!" More... | |