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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.2 | Chapter 9.3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what parts of language does Mencken say the "chief grammatical peculiarities" of spoken English are found?
(a) Adverbs and adjectives.
(b) Nouns and prepositions.
(c) Nouns and participles.
(d) Verbs and pronouns.

2. What is the second characteristic that Mencken attributes to American English in Chapter 1.5?
(a) Translatability to British English.
(b) Disregard of rule and precedent.
(c) Disunity of regional dialects.
(d) Resistance to neologisms.

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

4. Which of the early presidents does Mencken identify as archetypal of the new American?
(a) James Monroe.
(b) Thomas Jefferson.
(c) George Washington.
(d) Andrew Jackson.

5. What is the English meaning of the phrase "to carry on"?
(a) To raise hell.
(b) To be on the job.
(c) To shoulder one's pack.
(d) To talk endlessly.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which reporter first brings colloquial Americanisms to the written word, according to Mencken in Chapter 9.2?

2. In terms of politics, an American candidate "runs" for office. What does an English candidate do?

3. 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?

4. What word did Webster argue should have its vowel sound changed to "ee" instead of "eh"?

5. Which of the following groups of foreign immigrants does Mencken not attribute influence over American English in Chapter 6.4?

(see the answer key)

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