Carnival (Venice)

The Carnival celebration in Venice, Italy, is more sophisticated than the flashy celebrations that take place in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. Costumes for the event are often drawn from the stock characters of Italian popular theater from the 16th through 18th centuries—including traditional costumed characters such as La Bautta (the domino) and Il Dottore (the professor or doctor of law). Italian university students pour into Venice as Ash Wednesday draws near. The rhythm of the celebration quickens, evidenced by a number of spectacular costume balls. More...

written all over (one's) face

Evident by one's facial expression. Said of one's emotions or inner thoughts. More...

It is easy enough to say that poverty is no crime. No; if it were men wouldn't be ashamed of it. It is a blunder, though, and is punished as such. A poor man is despised the whole world over.

Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927)

Kurt Cobain (1967)

Cobain formed the rock trio Nirvana in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington, in 1986. The group's second album, Nevermind, featured the iconic hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and was the first punk-oriented album to achieve popularity with a mainstream audience. However, Cobain railed against his fame in Nirvana's next album, In Utero. Known for his self-destructive behavior and heroin use, he committed suicide in 1994. What tribute to Cobain is featured on a sign in his hometown? More...

The Barber of Seville's Disastrous Debut (1816)

In 1816, Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini produced The Barber of Seville, based on the comedy by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais. Though Rossini created much of the opera's music in just weeks, it resounds with his brilliant arias, ensemble numbers, and famous crescendos. Still, several on-stage accidents and constant jeers from the audience, likely spurred by supporters of one of Rossini's rivals, made its debut in Rome a disaster. What happened during the second performance? More...

Elephant Intelligence

Elephants are some of the most intelligent mammals on the planet and can therefore be trained to work and perform. However, their complex temperaments make training and handling them a challenge. Extensive studies place elephants in the category of great apes in terms of cognitive abilities for tool use and tool making, and their problem solving ability is considered equal to that of dolphins. Elephants are the only animals in the world known to have a ritual surrounding what event? More...

Compound-Complex Sentences

Compound-complex sentences are made up of two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. In a compound-complex sentence, how is the complex independent clause joined to the other independent clause? More...

lurcher

(noun) Someone waiting in concealment.

Synonyms: lurker, skulker

Usage: Amanda caught a glimpse of a figure in the shadows of the alleyway and ran in fear of the mysterious lurcher.