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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 language does Mencken quote Sidney Low as saying is not taught to English youth?
(a) American.
(b) Latin.
(c) Greek.
(d) Russian.

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

3. What does Mencken state is neglected by those who are professional trained to investigate it?
(a) Idiosyncrasies.
(b) Formal grammar.
(c) Philological anomalies.
(d) The vulgate.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which Founding Father is said to have sought to establish a new American alphabet?

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

4. How many dialects dominate American English, according to Chapter 1.5?

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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