Jump to content

Zee or Zed?


Recommended Posts

In the US we say "Zee". And this is what I think of when I hear "Zedd"

BFTG_ZED_Profile.png

 

Edited by Dubbag

Share this post


Link to post
6 hours ago, Azuris said:

Zed

 

Because english isn't my native Language

 

English ain't my first language either but I grew up watching shows in English, and the English intro of Dragonball Z has ingrained me with the fact that it's definitely Zee.

 

Because it always went like "Dragon!, dragon!, dragon baall Zeee!" and not Dragon!, dragon!, dragon baall Zeddd!! 

Edited by OniriA

Share this post


Link to post

I'm British, so "zed".

 

Living in the USA, I of course hear "zee" being used everywhere, but it still comes unexpectedly, like a wet smack in the face. It will never sound natural or normal (even though I am getting used to things like "boddler worrderr"). And when I see a ski run called something like "EZ Street", I'll spend a moment wondering what the hell "Eezed Street" might mean, before realizing (hopefully in time to avoid ending up in the bunny area).

Share this post


Link to post

The answer is Zed, however for some strange reason one 17th century book and the American insistence that ‘z’ must rhyme with something in the alphabet song means that one country essentially pronounces ‘z’ differently to pretty much the rest of the world.

Also why is zebra pronounced ‘Zeebra’? Like why?

Edited by cannonball

Share this post


Link to post

The only instances of Zed I ever heard as a kid were from Power Rangers and Pulp Fiction. It wasn't until Shaun of the Dead that I ever made any connection between the letter and that pronunciation. I always thought Lord Zed had a Zee on his head because Zee stands for Zed.

 

I'm now slightly amused at the notion of catching some zeds.

Share this post


Link to post

I had "Zed" hammered into me at an early age and was told it was how Australians where supposed to say it, but it's 50-50 Zee/Zea in my experience. My parents where both teachers so I guess that's whats in the curriculum (in the 80's/90's at least).

Share this post


Link to post

Zee, if you're American. Zed, if you're British or Australian.

 

I'm neither, there's no "Z" in my country's alphabet, but we pronounce it like "the" with low emphasis on the T part.

Edited by Panzermann11

Share this post


Link to post
1 hour ago, TheUltimateDoomer666 said:

Zee. Because B isn't "bed", C isn't "said", D isn't "dead", and E isn't "Ed".

Well, as everything it is more complicated XP

 

Z is taken out late into the latin Alphabet from the Greek, with Y and K.

Y is often called Ypsilon or Greek I in other Languages

W is some germanic Invention, as it is just two V, guess they needed a Way to show the Difference of V and how it was spelled back then.

V is called Uve in most romance Languages, because it could be V or U in their Parent Language Latin, depending on what Place it was standing.

Similiar to how C can be hard, as in Caca of soft, as in Cielo.

J is an Evolution from I, for a similiar Reason.

So, there is also X from the Greek, but i think it was adopted very early, as there are nativ latin Words as Conexio.

 

So Z, some use it like an sharp S, some similiar as an TS would make an Sound.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
6 hours ago, Grazza said:

I'm British, so "zed".

 

Living in the USA, I of course hear "zee" being used everywhere, but it still comes unexpectedly, like a wet smack in the face. It will never sound natural or normal (even though I am getting used to things like "boddler worrderr"). And when I see a ski run called something like "EZ Street", I'll spend a moment wondering what the hell "Eezed Street" might mean, before realizing (hopefully in time to avoid ending up in the bunny area).

You just made me realise that the abbreviation "ez" for "easy" is like that because of "zee". I thought it was just some weird abbreviation of "easy" that wasn't meant to be pronounced as it's read. I can't believe I never put that together.

5 hours ago, cannonball said:

The answer is Zed, however for some strange reason one 17th century book and the American insistence that ‘z’ must rhyme with something in the alphabet song means that one country essentially pronounces ‘z’ differently to pretty much the rest of the world.

Also why is zebra pronounced ‘Zeebra’? Like why?

American English is pretty much the international standard for English now, so I think more people say "zee" than "zed" if you take in non-native speakers into account. There are even people here in the UK who are starting to say "zee".

Edited by Individualised

Share this post


Link to post
12 hours ago, Individualised said:

"Zed" is correct in Canadian English but many Canadians don't use it, especially younger Canadians.

 

Old Canadian here. We were taught in school that Z was pronounced Zed. Then one day in the early 80's I was referring to the band ZZ Top (I only saw the name at the time) as Zed Zed Top, which my friend corrected me on. Ever since then I've used the America pronunciation of the letter in question. I don't know anybody old or young that says Zed anymore.

Share this post


Link to post
12 hours ago, Individualised said:

I'm not Canadian so maybe I'm misinformed about how common it exactly is.

Acually I was totally wrong because I was only thinking of the letter on its own, like if you're doing the alphabet song. As part of an initialism, abbreviation, etc., like EZPZ, GZDoom, or catching some Zs, zee is common and probably the norm. Certainly no one gets confused about EZ like poor Grazza (or you, until now, apparently).

 

@Grazza how long have you been in the States anyhow?

Edited by plums

Share this post


Link to post

I use both, I only use zee when it sounds better than zed in a name.

For example, I'll say Zeedoom, but I'd also say vz as vzed (vz. 58, vz. 61, etc.)

Edited by Codename_Delta

Share this post


Link to post
16 hours ago, Azuris said:

Zett - German

Tsett in German.

 

Zed because I’m French.

I also pronounce ZedZedTop because ZiZiTop means PrickTop in French.

Edited by ducon

Share this post


Link to post
17 hours ago, Astar said:

In school we were only told to use "zed" as the only correct pronunciation

I learnt the same in school but later realized that it is also pronounced zee

Share this post


Link to post

Zee

/t͡siː/ (it's /t͡siː/ not /t͡sʰiː/

some time I miss pronounce it as ji (/t͡ɕiː/) and G become jyu (/t͡ɕyː/)

Edited by fai1025

Share this post


Link to post

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...