# Are Americans really unaware the letter "Z" is pronounced "Zed" in the UK/Australia/NZ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 3, 2013, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399 "2013-05-03T09:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/181 "2013-05-06T10:08:31Z")
This has been alluded to before, but allow me to clarify: All other things being equal – “diversity,” foreign-produced television programming, cluelessness. etc. – a group of people which says “zee” will have fewer people aware of the other group’s use of “zed” than vice-versa…SIMPLY BECAUSE “ZED” IS OBJECTIVELY ODD. You don’t need to go fishing for any other reason. That is, many “zee” folks will fail to register what they’re hearing when a “zed” person says “zed,” because “zed” fails to fit an obvious pattern, which “zee” does fit that pattern. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/182 "2013-05-06T14:03:14Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Lots of Americans seem pretty familiar with British comedy series etc. Isn’t BBC America pretty popular over there? But then it’s spoken. And never spelled out. I’ve watched a quite a few BBC programmes (;)) and no one’s ever turned to the camera and said “See what I did there? I said Zeh’bra – that’s Zeh’bra with a Zed.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/183 "2013-05-06T15:17:08Z")
> [@digs](#): > > But then it’s spoken. And never spelled out. I’ve watched a quite a few BBC programmes (;)) and no one’s ever turned to the camera and said “See what I did there? I said Zeh’bra – that’s Zeh’bra with a Zed.” And any time someone on the Beeb does say “Zed,” I guarantee a lot of American viewers space it out completely. Probably think the actor was talking about something foreign and then forget about it immediately, never imagining that it was the letter Z that was being pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/184 "2013-05-06T15:31:03Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Zed’s just one of those wacky British things, same as all the extra U’s in words, an extra I in aluminum, and ph in sulfur. I think you will find it is one of those wacky US things where they removed the Us and mis-spelt aluminium- it was one of the first discussions I had here back in the early days. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/185 "2013-05-06T15:35:50Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > No it isn’t. The chemistry nomenclature people (IUPAC) ruled that in technical usage, the element should be spelt “sulfur”, but standard British English still spells it “sulphur” in all non-technical contexts. Being Fair and Balanced (haha) they plumped for aluminium! ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/186 "2013-05-06T15:43:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Y’know, Canada really is culturally very similar to the US in most regards… But one of the ways in which they’re different is, in fact, the topic of this thread. So for purposes of this thread, I don’t think it’s really accurate to say that most Americans live over a thousand miles away from any foreign culture. It depends on perspective. An American will see Canada as culturally American with a few odd Britishisms. A Brit will tend to notice how like the UK it is in many ways if they have had experience of the USA itself. I have problems both ways as I was educated in the US but have lived in Britain most of my life since then. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/187 "2013-05-06T15:49:48Z")
speaking for myself, I was aware of the “zee/zed” difference early on. Thanks mostly to the CBC broadcasts of Sesame Street and Hockey Night in Canada. Followed, of course, by _The National with Knowlton Nash._ > [@Polycarp](#): > > A quote from an old tongue-im-cheek MPSIMS thread that may be relevant: :By the 1939 Treaty of Ogdensburg, Canadians agreed to stop identifying themselves as ‘not British’ and start calling themselves ‘not Americans’." I wish Canadians would tell Scott to stop being such a dick. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/188 "2013-05-06T16:05:46Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > The UK is ruled by a Queen, has a lot of old buildings, and people drink tea. Australia has kangaroos & convicts. New Zealand is the part of Australia where Xena lives. That about sums up the average American’s knowledge of the Commonwealth. You got that backarsewards… Australia is the part of New Zealand where the kangaroos live…😃 ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/189 "2013-05-06T16:27:40Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > :rolleyes: > And how many have _you_ asked about it? The fact that _you_ know says nothing about how many other New Zealanders know. > > How many American TV shows involve people naming letters of the alphabet? > > I would have thought Dopers would be a bit more aware that, in such matters, personal anecdote does not equal evidence. I knew growing up - and even heard jokes about it…I can kinda recall covering the differences between English and American in English classes at school. So I’d say - yeah, expect most NZedders to know. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/190 "2013-05-06T16:47:27Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I generally shrug off stuff like this by thinking “Americans, Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis… 4 peoples separated by a common language.” > > I’ve known Zed = Zee for quite sometime, but it never seemed to come up very often in any BBC or ITC programs and films I’ve seen. > > What I’m still trying to figure out is how Aussies and Kiwis keep from falling off the bottom of the Earth. Well duh - like[this](http://flourish.org/upsidedownmap/) of course! Don’t they learn you nuthin’ in America? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/191 "2013-05-06T16:53:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah! Many Americans also know that English people have bad teeth, Australia has koalas and boomerangs, and… aren’t there hobbits in New Zealand? Or should that be “New Zedland”? And for everyone else also - you do know that Zealand is really Dutch right? And dates back to the 10 Century… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/192 "2013-05-06T16:55:21Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Right, Canada is a certainly another country but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a ‘foreign’ country at least in comparison to the U.S. I think that is why only Mexico was used in the example above. That is what makes Canadians the biggest security threat to the U.S. in my view. They look and act just like regular people until you find out one day, maybe even years later, that they aren’t when they slip up and make a reference that only a Canadian would know or care about. Maybe you have one as a neighbor or coworker and just never realized it. They can hide in plain sight just about anywhere. Until we pronounce “about, pasta, Montreal, or zed.” Then the jig is up. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/193 "2013-05-06T17:23:17Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > That said, is the book and upcoming Brad Pitt movie pronounced “World War Zed” over there? It is indeed. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/194 "2013-05-06T17:58:02Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I looked in a large video rental shop in California for European films, e.g. one of the Federico Fellini greats – I found a single shelf. Even if you think European films are no better than American films, they have very _different_ style, so should have a market if only for the variety – yet are almost unknown in the U.S.A. > > One of the more reprehensible actions taken by U.S. during WTO negotiations was (on behalf of Disney etc.) to forbid governments (like Poland’s) from subsidizing their film industries. The rationale was so hypocritical as to nauseate – the prohibition on national film subsidies was _to promote diversity_. :dubious: :smack: > > Yes, Americans are culturally isolated. I ask those who deny this to tell us if they even have a passport. I have to say, I get really sick of this sort of accusation. I know that I, for one, am aware of zed, I have watched both Das Boot and Der Himmel Uber Berlin in German (with subtitles). I have been to a couple dozen countries on multiple continents. And I would say that this is also true for most of my peers. I would bet you that most Americans know what lorries and the loo (sp?) are. I think zed just doesn’t come up that much- I mean really, how often are you actually saying the name of that letter, and even when heard, without context it could easily slip by. Of course the rest of the world knows “Americanisms.” Hollywood just happens to be a juggernaut. And English programming has reached a fairly wide audience here- Monty Python, Are You Being Served, Fawlty Towers, Keeping Up Appearences, and a host of other programs have all found wide audiences, as have the Harry Potter books, The Lord of The Rings- in fact, as I sit here typing, I realize I could go on and on. In fact, in my experience the (American) folks who say most Americans don’t know this or that, interestingly, are pointing themselves out as the exception. ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/195 "2013-05-06T18:12:23Z")
I’m not sure exactly how I learned about zee vs. zed, but I think it was from an article or TV segment specifically addressing the differences between British and American English, and I’m pretty sure I was an adult at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/196 "2013-05-06T18:23:17Z")
I suppose it’s the Blackberry _Zee_ 10 in the US? ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/197 "2013-05-06T18:31:25Z")
In college I had a TA who would say Zed for Z. He was Canadian, I think. That’s when I learned about Zed. I had a Greek TA in college too. It was fun to hear the Greek pronunciation of Greek Letters, except pi. That was confusing. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/198 "2013-05-06T18:41:21Z")
> [@Bob\_X](#): > > A few Canadians call it “izzard”: I have no idea why. I have heard the pronunciation “izzed”. It was very clear and noticeable, because the gentleman in question was giving the instructions for an exam, in the course of which he had several times to say “w, x, y or izzed”. (The real questions had answers marked a, b, c, d; while the sample questions for each section had answers w, x, y, z.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/199 "2013-05-06T18:50:01Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And any time someone on the Beeb does say “Zed,” I guarantee a lot of American viewers space it out completely. Probably think the actor was talking about something foreign and then forget about it immediately, never imagining that it was the letter Z that was being pronounced. This. I would have thought it a name. Zed as in Zed Williams, famous cricket player or some such. In fact, the only time I heard it was in the movie “Men in Black” and it was the name of someone. There’s a whole pile of stuff I don’t understand watching shows from the other side of the pond. If a Canadian actor tried to say it in an American TV show they would have been forced at pun-point to say it correctly. Hearing it and understanding it are 2 different things. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/200 "2013-05-06T18:58:10Z")
Other than bloviating, does anyone have any actual evidence that Americans are any more parochial than residents of any other world power? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399.md?page=11)