Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, March 6, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
contretemps
| |||||||
| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
|---|---|
ParticlesA particle is a word that does not have semantic meaning on its own, but instead relies on the word it is paired with to have meaning. What are the only two things that a particle is used to create? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 "Freedom Fries""Freedom fries" was a short-lived name used by some in the US for French fries after France resisted condoning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In March, 2003, all references to French fries and French toast on the menus of restaurants run by the House of Representatives were removed. By July 2006, however, the move had been reversed. Politically-motivated renamings were also seen during World War I, when anti-German sentiment led some to refer to sauerkraut as what? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 Nasir Khusraw Embarks on Seven-Year Middle East Journey (1046)Khusraw, a Persian poet, philosopher, scholar, and traveler, is considered one of the great writers of Persian literature. His most famous work is the Safarnama, an account of his seven-year journey through the Islamic world, during which time he made pilgrimages to the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina and visited many cities, including Jerusalem and Cairo. The work stands out as the most authentic account of the Islamic world at that time. He traversed what distance in those seven years? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (1619)Cyrano de Bergerac was a French writer and freethinker who satirized the customs and beliefs of his time. He wrote two romances about visits to the moon that are classics of early modern science fiction and inspired later writers such as Jonathan Swift. His swaggering personality, evinced by the many duels he fought over insults to his unusually large nose, was romanticized by Edmond Rostand in the verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac. How much of the play is an accurate reflection of his life? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 They may walk with a little less spring in their step, and the ranks are growing thinner, but let us never forget, when they were young, these men saved the world.Bill Clinton (1946-) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
at top speed— As fast as something or someone can go. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine) (2019)The custom of burying a "sardine" on Ash Wednesday is common throughout Spain and is thought to have originated in an old fertility custom symbolizing the burial of winter in early spring. The Entierro de la Sardina also symbolizes the burial of worldly pleasures and serves as a reminder that people must abstain from eating meat on Fridays throughout the 40 days of Lent. Another Spanish custom is to make figures representing the King and Queen of Carnival and to burn or drown these personifications of Carnival on Ash Wednesday or Shrove Tuesday. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
|---|---|
Today's topic: metaphortrope - A figurative or metaphorical use of a word or phrase. More... ingrain, ingrained - Ingrain literally means "work into the grain" (originally, of fabric), and ingrained is metaphorically "deep-seated." More... farce - First meant forcemeat stuffing and came to be used metaphorically when a humorous play was "stuffed" in between two more serious acts of the main theatrical presentation—or for interludes of impromptu buffoonery in a dramatic presentation. More... relieve - Metaphorically, to "alleviate, lighten," from Latin relevare, "raise again." More... | |