Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, July 2, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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dispirit
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Misplaced ModifiersWhen we use participles as adjectives, it's important that the noun modified is clearly stated and that the participle appears as close to it as possible. Otherwise, we run the risk of having a "misplaced modifier," which is what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 MaslenitsaAlso known as Butter Week, Cheesefare Week, and Pancake Week, Maslenitsa is a Russian folk and religious holiday. Originally a pagan festival celebrating the end of winter, it was later adopted by Orthodox Christians to mark the final week that dairy, eggs, parties, and dancing may be enjoyed before Great Lent. A weeklong pancake party, the festival is presided over by Lady Maslenitsa, a colorful woman made of straw. What happens to her and the leftover pancakes on the festival's last day? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Suicidal Monk Sets Fire to Kyoto's Temple of the Golden Pavilion (1950)Originally a statesman's villa, Kyoto's Temple of the Golden Pavilion has an exterior of gold leaf and is situated on a pond in a lush Japanese garden. The building narrowly avoided destruction many times in its long history, but in 1950, a young Buddhist monk set fire to it during a suicide attempt. He survived and was sentenced to seven years in prison. In 1955, the temple was rebuilt true to its original appearance. That same year, the arsonist was released from prison early for what reason? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Hermann Hesse (1877)Hesse was German novelist and poet who wrote about the individual's search for spiritual fulfillment, often through mysticism. His major works include Siddhartha and Steppenwolf. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. At around the time of his death in 1962, his novels began to enjoy a revival of popularity due to their association with some of the themes of the 1960s counterculture movement. What fellow German writers did Hesse help to escape from the Nazis? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 All violence, all that is dreary and repels, is not power, but the absence of power.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be on (one's) best behavior— To be very polite or exercise exceptionally good manners. Primarily heard in US. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Bahia Independence Day (2025)The consolidation of Brazilian independence in the state of Bahia is remembered each year with a procession following the path that the Brazilians took when they defeated Portuguese troops there in 1823. Folkloric characters like the caboclo, who symbolizes the superiority of native strength over the colonizers, have worked their way into this primarily civic celebration. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: sufferimpatient - Meaning "not able to bear or suffer," based on Latin pati, "to suffer." More... compatible - Its base is Latin compati, "suffer with." More... harrow, harrowing - To harrow is to wound the feelings or cause to suffer—which gives us harrowing. More... suffer - To suffer something is, etymologically, to "hold or sustain it from underneath," from Latin sufferre, "sustain." More... | |