Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, September 26, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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templet
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining MitigatorsMitigators, a subset of adverbs of degree, are adverbs or adverbials that modify adjectives and adverbs to reduce their intensity, making them seem less extreme or powerful. "Slightly" is an example of a mitigator. What are some others? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Cerebral CortexThe vertebrate brain's cerebrum is covered by an outer layer, or cortex, that is largely responsible for higher brain functions, including sensation, voluntary muscle movement, thought, reasoning, and memory. It is composed of unmyelinated fibers that—in preserved brains—are grey in color, hence the name "grey matter." Each region of the cerebral cortex is highly differentiated and sends and receives information specific to its function. How thick is the cerebral cortex in humans? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Steamship RMS Queen Mary Is Launched (1934)Construction on the Queen Mary ocean liner began in Scotland in 1930. In 1934, British King George V's consort, Queen Mary, christened the ship in her own name. Operated by the Cunard Line, the glamorous luxury ship carried passengers between New York and England for decades—except during World War II, when it was painted grey and converted to carry troops. In the 1960s, air travel rendered transatlantic passenger ships obsolete, and the Queen Mary was retired. Where is it now? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot (1888)Eliot was an American-British poet and critic and an immensely distinguished literary figure who, from the 1920s on, was the most influential English-language modernist poet. His early poems, such as "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "The Waste Land," express the anguish and barrenness of modern life and the isolation of the individual. In his later poetry, he turned from spiritual desolation to hope for human salvation. What book by Eliot is the basis for the musical Cats? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 An unhappy gentleman, resolving to wed nothing short of perfection, keeps his heart and hand till both get so old and withered that no tolerable woman will accept them.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be cleaned out— To be emptied or devoid of money, food, resources, etc. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Cure Salée (2020)The Tuareg, a largely nomadic ethnic group found primarily in Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Libya, converge with their camels and cattle on a place known as Ingal just after the first rains of the season arrive. The Salt Festival takes its name from the salt contained in the new grass, which is essential to the animals' diet. Each Tuareg group participating in the Cure Salée follows a very specific transhumance or seasonal migration route, some traveling hundreds of miles. The return of the rains is also celebrated with dancing, singing, and camel races. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: ignoreflout, flaunt - Flout means "defy, ignore" and flaunt means "show off." More... ignore, disregard - Ignore is properly used of things that are present in one's surroundings; for things like rules, conventions, stipulations, and contracts, the right word is disregard. More... stet - Latin for "let it stand," a notation to ignore a correction made to a text. More... | |