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The American Language Study Guide

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by H. L. Mencken
About 122 pages (36,636 words)
The American Language Summary

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Chapter 4.4 Summary

Mencken covers euphemisms, first giving numerous examples of those the English use, then comparing English to American euphemisms. He provides examples used in labor, educational milieus, medicine, business, and the arts. He gives anecdotal examples to show the differences between American and English euphemisms and labels. He also discusses names attached to ethnicity, showing that the language and naming practices in England differ from those in America because of the sensitivity to connotations. For example, he describes how in America, the possible "influence of Jewish advertisers" leads to newspapers and other printed materials calling Jewish people Hebrews, whereas in England, he writes, Jewish people "...are in the main of considerable education, and so they are above any silly shrinking from the name of Jew."

Chapter 4.4 Analysis

Mencken seems to have a bit of.....

This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 646 words. This study guide contains 36,636 words (approx. 122 pages at 300 words per page).

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The American Language from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.

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