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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.8 | Chapter 9.9.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Which of the following groups of immigrants does Mencken claim have a profound effect on not only the American vocabulary, but also its pronunciation and idiom?
(a) Irish.
(b) Scottish.
(c) Italian.
(d) Danish.

3. What letter, when preceding a consonant, greatly irritated Henry James like a "morose grinding of the back teeth?"
(a) G.
(b) R.
(c) T.
(d) E.

4. How does Mencken characterize the vulgar American habitual use of the double negative?
(a) With "periodic intensity."
(b) With "sturdy fidelity."
(c) With "unconscious loathing."
(d) With "happy fecundity."

5. What is frequently omitted in phrases indicated desire or intent, as indicated in Chapter 9.9?
(a) Verbs of action.
(b) The subject noun(s).
(c) Adverbial modifiers.
(d) Adjectival modifiers.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the physical basis to which the nasal twang of Americans is ascribed?

2. In what sort of languages are double negatives "perfectly allowable"?

3. What difference in pronunciation does Mencken state most sharply distinguishes the two dialects?

4. What word was "coatee" used as a diminutive for?

5. How do the English pronounce the first syllable in "lieutenant"?

(see the answer key)

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