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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. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?
(a) Edgar Jepson.
(b) Richard Aldington.
(c) George Ade.
(d) William Archer.

2. 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?
(a) White/Caucasian.
(b) Jew/Hebrew.
(c) Latino/Hispanic.
(d) Black/African American.

3. Which of the following does Wilcox not list as a negative treatment of the English language by grammarians?
(a) Excessive inflection.
(b) Multiplication of terms for a single conception.
(c) Excessive classification.
(d) Excessive revision.

4. To what continent does Mencken attribute the acknowledgment of the differences between American and British English?
(a) South America.
(b) Asia.
(c) North America.
(d) Europe.

5. According to Mencken, how do the Americans consider the precise English use of the indefinite pronoun ("one")?
(a) Ambiguously.
(b) Disdainfully.
(c) Apathetically.
(d) Respectfully.

Short Answer Questions

1. What spelling change is made from English to American in words such as "connection"?

2. What is the American substitute for the English word "tin"?

3. From which of the following have the English changed their spelling?

4. What purpose does Miss Wittmann say is served by the shortening of word forms?

5. In what parts of language does Mencken say the "chief grammatical peculiarities" of spoken English are found?

(see the answer key)

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