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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. What word does Mencken find Dr. John Dewey using in place of the word "opium?"
(a) Skag.
(b) Dope.
(c) Crack.
(d) Poppy.

2. 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) Publishing.
(b) Localisms.
(c) Travel.
(d) Intercommunication.

3. What sound did Webster object to inserting in words such as "gradual" and "nature," before the "u"?
(a) Y.
(b) Dh.
(c) Ch.
(d) T.

4. Which of the following did the African slaves NOT introduce to American English?
(a) Banjo.
(b) Gumbo.
(c) Voodoo.
(d) Goober.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who proposed a generally accepted nomenclature for currency in 1785?

2. Who is the author of "Travels in North America," published in 1827?

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

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

5. What word in common honorifics did Edwin S. Gould protest against omitting in 1867?

(see the answer key)

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