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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 4.4 | Chapter 4.5.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who protested the adoption of the broad "a" in an 1857 work entitled "The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table"?
(a) Richard Meade Bache.
(b) Oliver Wendell Holmes.
(c) Noah Webster.
(d) Frank H. Vizetelly.

2. Which letter of the alphabet do Americans differ in pronunciation from other English-speaking countries?
(a) X.
(b) J.
(c) W.
(d) Z.

3. Who "tries" a legal case in England?
(a) The jury.
(b) The judge.
(c) The solicitor.
(d) The barrister.

4. What English word does the author of "Men and Manners" lament about the American re-signification?
(a) College.
(b) Buttock.
(c) Clever.
(d) Missionary.

5. What does Mencken say newspaper reporters no longer "slobber" over?
(a) Tragedies.
(b) Ceremonies.
(c) British idioms.
(d) Interviews.

Short Answer Questions

1. What ethnicity of people, through the influence of the mercantile class, is referred to by a different name in the United States than in England?

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

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

4. What American writer does Mencken claim likely inspired envy in British writers?

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

(see the answer key)

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