View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.10.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What Anglo-Saxon word does Mencken report the colonists refused to replace with an Old Norse word of similar meaning?
(a) Sick.
(b) Hale.
(c) Vapid.
(d) Ill.

2. According to Mencken, which title is subject to the greatest divergence in usage?
(a) Professor.
(b) General.
(c) Doctor.
(d) The Honorable.

3. Which of the following was not used as a substitute for the once indecent term, for highly refined ears, "bull"?
(a) Cow-creature.
(b) Gentleman-cow.
(c) Standing-cow.
(d) Male-cow.

4. What use of storage was added to the American meaning of the word "barn?"
(a) Chickens.
(b) Horses.
(c) Cattle.
(d) Crops.

5. What does Sayce say that language is composed of in 1879?
(a) Words.
(b) Letters.
(c) Meanings.
(d) Sounds.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Mencken, the English opposition to American spelling transcends the academic and takes on the character of what?

2. Mencken claims that Noah Webster contains less of the scientific inquirer and more of what?

3. Which organization produced a prospectus in 1913 that warned against extreme English conservatism in the spelling of foreign loan-words?

4. Which of the early presidents does Mencken identify as archetypal of the new American?

5. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 218 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample