"is Z pronounced Zee or Zed?" Topic

How do you pronounce Z?

ZED.
As in YouTube link

Zee

It's pronounced 'throat wobbler mangrove'.

UK: Zed
US: Zee

Zed.

Isn't this one for:

Zee if you're in the US, Zed if you're in the UK.

I don't know about the rest of the English-speaking world.

I live in the US and occasionally pronounce it "Zed", but people give me funny looks. They give me funny looks lots of other times too, so it's hard to tell.

Still holding onto Zed in Canada, but will likely be Zee within a few more years.

Both interchangeably.
Habit I picked up in New Zealand.

zed.

Ignore those upstart rebel colonials…:)

Zee is an Ant in Antz, Zed is the letter. Its our language, learn!

Zulu obviously.

Zed en Australie (and despite the earlier post New Zealand).

I pronounce it Zed.

I ended up teach an course on US taxation and insisted on calling one of the forms the 1040EZed.

Whilst not a Canadian I can appreciate this:

YouTube link

ZEE, now and forever.

Like a "th"!
:)

I seem to recall it being zed in French.

Why doesn't B = Bed, C = Ced, D = Ded, etc., in English English?

izzard.

zulu

Zed. What part of "zeta" is pronounced "zee"?

Zebra…..not Zeebra. Zed it is………go the Zeds !

In NZ its zed, like eNZed, but in other instances I use zee, it sounds better.

It would be interesting to know how Zed turned into Zee.

Zed amongst loyal Canadians!
God save the queen!

Zed more than Zee in this part of Australia, but both are used and known.

I would say both. Like the book/movie is World War Zee. But the slogan, Better Dead than Zed! I have seen above peeps say depends on US or OK or what country your from. First i have ever seen this comment. :-)

Grimm

Zee (but then I'm another American)

<Zed en Australie (and despite the earlier post New Zealand).>

Certainly in the older generation, but thanks to Sesame Street, an awful lot of younger kiwis say Zee. I've noticed pre-schoolers tend to say Zee (it rhymes so much better with E, G, P and V in the alphabet song), and tend to migrate to Zed when they get to school.

ZED!

Of course, even I lapse and call the IBM operating system z/OS ZEE OS rather than ZED OS.

Zed, as in colour.

"Why doesn't B = Bed, C = Ced, D = Ded, etc., in English English?"

Spurious has a very good observation. Can you proponents of 'zed' please explain your inconsistency?

Spurious has a very good observation. Can you proponents of 'zed' please explain your inconsistency?

There is nothing consistent about the English language. Here's a few examples:

rough
through
slough
though
thought

- all the same spelling but each pronounced differently!

It always amuses me when Americans tell me how to pronounce English words. I am a proponent of zed of course so when they (Yanks) try to tell me words must be pronounced phonetically with the softer zeeeee I ask them how they accommodate
double-u?

Why doesn't B = Bed, C = Ced, D = Ded, etc., in English English?

For the same reason knight is the same as night.
It is the way the English language is, it has worked rather well for a while.

Can you proponents of 'zed' please explain your inconsistency?

I am not inconsistent, the language is.

Just because something does make sense does not mean it is incorrect.

It always amuses me when Americans tell me how to pronounce English words.

That's right, you should only listen to the Vikings, who gave you your language, the Romans who gave you the lion's share of your vocabulary, and the Welsh who gave you most of your grammar.

:)

didn't the Angles give us the language? And what did the welsh do with the rest of my nan? Back over the Dyke, you grandparent-eating devils….

and it's zed, same way it's pronounced in German….

but how do the Germans pronounce A?

It's a Wikipedia reference, but there is a citation to a 1677 English spelling book which teaches Z to be pronounced as Zee.

It's ironic (though not unusual) for there to be archaic forms of English carried over in America, though now extinct in the UK. As I understand it, linguistics experts from the UK have traveled to the Appalachian region of the US to study the dialects, expressions, songs, idioms, etc that are straight out of the 17th and 18th century.

The Wikipedia reference also explains the "why not Bed, Ced, Ded?" question. Z comes from the Greek letter zeta unlike B, C and D.

link

Let's tidy things up and make it all more logical, as if we were French. Let's have not just Zee, but also Fee, Hee, Jee, Kee, Lee, Mee, Nee, Qee, Ree, See, Wee, Xee and Yee.

Hurree for consistencee.

All the best,

John.

'Cause Zed is the last letter in the alphabet and everyone picks on 'im.

It always amuses me when Americans tell me how to pronounce English words.

Yeah, it amuses me when Brits think they know how it should be, too. India is obviously in the demographic driver's seat on this issue nowadays.
-Kle.

It would be interesting to know how Zed turned into Zee.

It's when we stomped across the Atlantic and saved the day in WW2!

I thought the Soviets saved the day, while the Imperialistic Yanks and Brits refused to start a second front….at least that is what Comrade Stalin said.

"It's when we stomped across the Atlantic and saved the day in WW2!"

So the cousins pronounced it "Zed" until 1944? Did it change because you came over the "zee" to Europe? :)

Are people actually using this to start jingoistic arguments, or are they just kidding?
Hard to tell, anymore…

Depends on your audience or location. This way you will keep the majority happy and not distract them from your message