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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2.3 | Chapter 2.4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What term did John Witherspoon coin, framing it within the context of vulgarity?
(a) Anglophile.
(b) Briticism.
(c) Americanism.
(d) Scientist.

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

3. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?
(a) Italian.
(b) French.
(c) Spanish.
(d) German.

4. Who proposed a generally accepted nomenclature for currency in 1785?
(a) Thomas Jefferson.
(b) Gouverneur Morris.
(c) Noah Webster.
(d) Richard Grant White.

5. What word in American is used for the English word "shoe?"
(a) Sandal.
(b) Footing.
(c) Boot.
(d) Slipper.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?

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

3. Which London newspaper lamented the "menace" that American movies offer to the purity of the English language?

4. 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?

5. Mencken claims that Noah Webster contains less of the scientific inquirer and more of what?

(see the answer key)

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