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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What American writer does Mencken claim likely inspired envy in British writers?
(a) Poe.
(b) Fowler.
(c) Griswold.
(d) Irving.

2. What is the physical basis to which the nasal twang of Americans is ascribed?
(a) The moist climate.
(b) The dry climate.
(c) Genetic diversity.
(d) Colder air.

3. To what country does the English correspondent in Chapter 4.5 ascribe many American expletives?
(a) France.
(b) Germany.
(c) Ireland.
(d) Sweden.

4. 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?
(a) Freight.
(b) Hog-pen.
(c) Rooster.
(d) Railroad.

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

6. Which Founding Father coined the term "to belittle"?
(a) Thomas Jefferson.
(b) Benjamin Franklin.
(c) Alexander Hamilton.
(d) James Madison.

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

8. Which of the following groups of foreign immigrants does Mencken not attribute influence over American English in Chapter 6.4?
(a) Slavic peoples.
(b) Russian Jews.
(c) South-Pacific Asian Islanders.
(d) Italians.

9. What word best describes the English attitude towards the adoption of foreign loan-words, in contrast to the American attitude?
(a) Conservative.
(b) Liberal.
(c) Accepting.
(d) Tolerating.

10. Which word do Americans use for "angry" that was once an English provincialism considered base?
(a) Furious.
(b) Irritated.
(c) Mad.
(d) Pissed.

11. Which is the first factor that Mencken identifies as an immediate impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?
(a) Lack of a national literature.
(b) Territorial expansiveness.
(c) Regional diversity.
(d) Political disharmony.

12. How is the "portmanteau-word" formed?
(a) By blending two words.
(b) By onomatopoeic creativity.
(c) By finding the true root in the word.
(d) By mixing parts of words with the same meaning in different languages.

13. Which London newspaper lamented the "menace" that American movies offer to the purity of the English language?
(a) The <i>Daily News</i>.
(b) The <i>Illustrated London News</i>.
(c) The <i>Times</i>.
(d) The <i>Daily Herald</i>.

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

15. Who proposed a generally accepted nomenclature for currency in 1785?
(a) Gouverneur Morris.
(b) Richard Grant White.
(c) Noah Webster.
(d) Thomas Jefferson.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose clarity of prevision does Mencken praise in the opening of Chapter 1.1?

2. Which of the following was not used as a substitute for the once indecent term, for highly refined ears, "bull"?

3. What does John S. Farmer describe the Western vernacular as being?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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