Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, June 20, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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chalkstone
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Perfective vs. Imperfective AspectAspect is a grammatical term that has to do with how an action, state of being, or event unfolds in relation to time. The greatest distinction is made between the perfective aspect, which focuses on actions and events as whole elements, and the imperfective aspect, which does what? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 KinesicsKinesics is the study of nonverbal, systematic communication through bodily movements, such as gestures, posture, and facial expressions. The study was pioneered by Ray Birdwhistell, a ballet dancer turned anthropologist, who wrote Introduction to Kinesics in 1952. Borrowing from descriptive linguistics, he argued that non-verbal forms of language have a grammar that can be analyzed like spoken language. Why is a "kineme" in kinesics similar to a phoneme in linguistics? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Murdered (1947)Infamous gangster Bugsy Siegel began his criminal career extorting peddlers in New York City and soon graduated to bootlegging, gambling schemes, and contract killing. In 1937, he was sent to develop rackets on the West Coast, which he did with much success. In 1945, he began building the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Originally budgeted at $1.5 million, the cost was driven to $6 million due to his skimming, angering his mob bosses. Months after the opening, Siegel was killed by whom? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, Mister Guitar (1924)Atkins got his first guitar by making a trade with his brother, and it was arguably the best deal he ever made. Although he struggled with shyness and suffered from severe asthma—he had to sleep sitting up and often fell asleep still holding his guitar—he became an accomplished guitarist and went on to release several hit records, develop a signature line of guitars, and help create country music's "Nashville sound." What did "Mr. Guitar," as he came to be known, trade to get that first guitar? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A fool cannot be an actor, though an actor may act a fool's part.Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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the mind's ear— The imaginative capability to create or recall sound within one's mind; the part of the mind that experiences imagined or recalled sound. (An allusion to the "mind's eye," which is likewise responsible for mental imagery.) More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Eritrean Martyrs' Day (2018)Following its defeat of Ethiopian government forces in 1991 to establish national independence, Eritrea instituted an official holiday to pay tribute to those who died for the country's liberation. Many Eritreans observe Martyrs' Day by filing into mass mourning processions that conclude at the "Martyrs' Graveyards" located throughout the country. In 1997, the government opened the National Martyrs' Park outside the capital city, Asmara, and individuals arrive to pay their respects to the dead by finding names engraved on the National Martyrs' Monument. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: standscircumstance - Literally "that which stands around (something)." More... cost - Something that costs a particular amount literally "stands at or with" that price, from Latin constare, "to be settled or fixed, stand at a price, cost." More... stem - The stem of a tree is etymologically the upright part, the part that "stands" up, from its Germanic base sta-, "stand." More... wing it - Comes from theatrical jargon, referring to the hurried study of lines by an understudy in the wings, or to the help given by a prompter who stands in the wings of a theater. More... | |
| In the News | |
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Big Change for #TheNew10 Dollar BillA woman will soon grace the face of American cash. In five years, the Treasury department will replace Alexander Hamilton featured on the $10 bill with a historical female figure. "It's time for a woman to be back on our paper currency," Treasury Secretary ... More... | |