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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.1 | Chapter 3.2.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What vowel sound was dominant in 18th century New England pronunciation, despite common protests to the contrary?
(a) Broad a.
(b) Broad o.
(c) Flat a.
(d) Flat e.

2. What event does Mencken credit with strengthening the obfuscation of distinction between American and British English?
(a) The French Revolution.
(b) The First World War.
(c) The advent of the transatlantic telephone line.
(d) The bombing of London.

3. What Anglo-Saxon word does Mencken report the colonists refused to replace with an Old Norse word of similar meaning?
(a) Vapid.
(b) Sick.
(c) Ill.
(d) Hale.

4. From what language does the English word "moose" come?
(a) Algonquin.
(b) Italian.
(c) English.
(d) Cherokee.

5. What "great humorist" does Mencken cite in Chapter 1.3 as "celebrating 'the vigorous new vernacular of the occidental plains and mountains'"?
(a) John Fiske.
(b) Samuel Elridge.
(c) Mark Twain.
(d) William Dean Howells.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the tale spread by William Gifford, what language was supposed to be substituted for English during the Revolutionary War?

2. What term did John Witherspoon coin, framing it within the context of vulgarity?

3. According to the report of Beverley, what did a group of soldiers turn into after eating some Jimson Weed?

4. Which is the second factor that Mencken identifies as an impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?

5. According to Mencken at the beginning of Chapter 1.3, what do the novelists and newspapermen on either side of the Atlantic ocean delight in?

(see the answer key)

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