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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.5 | Chapter 4.1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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?
(a) Localisms.
(b) Travel.
(c) Intercommunication.
(d) Publishing.

2. Which London newspaper lamented the "menace" that American movies offer to the purity of the English language?
(a) The <i>Times</i>.
(b) The <i>Illustrated London News</i>.
(c) The <i>Daily Herald</i>.
(d) The <i>Daily News</i>.

3. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?
(a) Richard Aldington.
(b) William Archer.
(c) Edgar Jepson.
(d) George Ade.

4. What word did Webster argue should have its vowel sound changed to "ee" instead of "eh"?
(a) Deaf.
(b) Beef.
(c) Beer.
(d) Heft.

5. Which term do English dictionaries all describe as an Americanism from the comparative list in Chapter 4.1, despite the English version being frequently used in America?
(a) Hog-pen.
(b) Railroad.
(c) Freight.
(d) Rooster.

Short Answer Questions

1. What "Anglomaniac affectation" did Noah Webster sneer at in 1789?

2. What English word does the author of "Men and Manners" lament about the American re-signification?

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

4. What language does Mencken quote Sidney Low as saying is not taught to English youth?

5. What "great humorist" does Mencken cite in Chapter 1.3 as "celebrating 'the vigorous new vernacular of the occidental plains and mountains'"?

(see the answer key)

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