# 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:** 11
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/201 "2013-05-06T19:14:40Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Something which came up in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685952&page=7)here - apparently significant numbers of Americans are unaware the letter “Z” is pronounced “Zed” in the UK (and Australia, and New Zealand). > > So: Is this really true? Are significant numbers of Americans really unaware of the Commonwealth pronounciation of the letter Z? And if so, why? I mean, all of us in the Commonwealth know you prounounce the letter “Zee”, so why not the other way around? > > I maintain, as I did in the other thread, it’s the sort of thing a reasonably intelligent adult American with an internet connection would surely have encountered at some point (YouTube clip, Dr Who, “Ways those wacky Limeys are different to us” jokes, etc) but apparently not, it seems. 😕 The letter may be called Zed in some parts of the UK but I can tell you the pronunciation is not you don’t call a zebra a zeeedbra it is zeeeebra . ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/202 "2013-05-06T19:25:35Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > To be fair, that’s the same in the UK as well, simply because people are too lazy to read subtitles. > > You get British films though, and I doubt they are out in the ‘European’ section. > > But, your main point is valid. Americans are certainly less exposed to foreign influences than Brits. It’s understandable when you consider I could get on a train in an hour’s time and be in Paris in two hours. No I think the poster above was saying Americans like type of movies and TV shows that are very different in the UK. The British movies and TV shows just seem very odd .I’m sure if there was British start trek type show it be all over the US. ---
**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, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/203 "2013-05-06T19:41:26Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > The letter may be called Zed in some parts of the UK but I can tell you the pronunciation is not you don’t call a zebra a zeeedbra it is zeeeebra . No, in fact in the UK zebra is pronounced to rhyme with zed in the first syllable: as in Debra. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/204 "2013-05-06T19:50:32Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No, in fact in the UK zebra is pronounced to rhyme with zed in the first syllable: as in Debra. So you don’t say zeeeebra ? Is this all parts of the UK? ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/205 "2013-05-06T19:58:48Z")
So all these words sound different in the UK? zoo zeal zig zag zigzag zoology zoologist zoom zone zinc zit zither zip zipper zodiac zany Zulu Zen zap zenith zero zest zillion ziggura zinnia ---
**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, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/206 "2013-05-06T20:12:23Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So all these words sound different in the UK? No. Just zebra for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/207 "2013-05-06T20:24:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No. Just zebra for the most part. I don’t understand . I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/208 "2013-05-06T21:08:40Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So you don’t say zeeeebra ? Is this all parts of the UK? …most parts of the world actually. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/209 "2013-05-06T21:31:49Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So all these words sound different in the UK? > > zoo > zeal > zig > zag zedoo zedeal zedig zedag zedigzedag zedology zedologist zedoom Actually, I like that. Like one of those secret languages where they just add a syllable to the middle of each word. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/210 "2013-05-06T21:51:28Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Great point, being raised in New York I had no idea what pop, sweet tea, sundries, or tennis shoes were until I visited other parts of the country. (plenty of other stuff, too, I’m sure) That is thing in the US and in Canada there are different accents and dialects. I could go Dallas and some will have Taxes accent than you get Hispanics ,Asians and all the transplants in Dallas from the other southern states , west coats and north so on.Most big cities in the US and Canada would have many accents and dialects. You could go to Toronto or Montreal and you get British accent, French accent , Canadian accent and so on .Even in Canada there are different accents.Some place in Canada have big thick accent that hard to understand.Where southern Ontario is more American like , but you go to some other places in Canada it very thick.I know if you ever seen parliament debate on TV some of these people have real thick Canadian accents. Than those the Italians in the US and Canada and some them have Italian accent. When I was in California some people even had California accent and dialects the words \*\*awesome ,totally ,like ,oh my god. Like totally,totally hot, the he Valley Girl and up talk. \*\* I thick the problem in the UK is less diversity and spread out so you have less accents and dialects. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/211 "2013-05-06T21:52:40Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > I thick the problem in the UK is less diversity and spread out so you have less accents and dialects. Oh shit, now you’ve really stirred the pot. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/212 "2013-05-06T21:53:56Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > \*\* > I thick the problem in the UK is less diversity and spread out so you have less accents and dialects. I’ve never heard more variations on English than I have from people in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/213 "2013-05-06T21:56:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I suppose it’s the Blackberry _Zee_ 10 in the US? Definitely. I’m in California and I deal with Blackberry as part of my job all the time, we do call their new phone the “Zee 10”. ETA: There is a local California engineering office of Blackberry not far from here, I bet they also call it the “Zee 10”. ---
**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, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/214 "2013-05-06T22:28:48Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I suppose it’s the Blackberry _Zee_ 10 in the US? yes. now that you mention it, one of the radio stations I listen to is CIMX (Windsor) and they’ve been running ads for the new Sony Experia Zed-L smartphone. Every once in a while I’ll hear it and go “whut,” then I’ll remember which station I have on. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/215 "2013-05-06T22:32:42Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > I thick the problem in the UK is less diversity and spread out so you have less accents and dialects. Is this supposed to be tongue-in-cheek? Because if you’re being serious, that’s just nuts. The UK has got the most variance in accents in a small geographic space I’ve experienced in any English-speaking country. I mean, you can be in a town where you understand everyone, then go a village or two over and be completely lost in a completely different accent. It’s quite fascinating from a linguistic standpoint for me. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/216 "2013-05-07T00:02:45Z")
Just to add a data point… I lived in the UK for 17 months (early 1991-mid 1992), and I never heard the zed thing until I saw [this commercial](http://youtu.be/BRI-A3vakVg) in 1993. Seriously, if you went down to the pub to compare alphabets, you were doing something wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/217 "2013-05-07T00:42:37Z")
I think I first heard this back in the 1970s on something from British TV on tape at a con. Might have been Dr. Who. Hard to tell at this point, but yes, I know that pronunciation of the terminal letter of the Latin alphabet. The US has always been a bit stand-offish. The entire ‘exceptionalism’ idea is silly. We are an amalgam of several other cultures and have many of the customs of other nations, but so do other countries. It is one of our more annoying traits as a people. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/218 "2013-05-07T00:55:12Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > zedoo > zedeal > zedig > zedag > zedigzedag > zedology > zedologist > zedoom > > Actually, I like that. > > Like one of those secret languages where they just add a syllable to the middle of each word. Well wouldn’t the letter be pronounced zeded then? Or maybe zededed? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/219 "2013-05-07T01:29:52Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > 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. As to the question of our northern neighbors, I think this is the salient point. I’d guess that most Americans don’t perceive Canada as “foreign” - at least, Americans who don’t routinely interact with Canadians. Yeah, there is a “funny Canajun accent”, and yeah, they say odd things like “zed” and “chesterfield”; but there is enough cultural similarity - based on language and history - that they don’t “read” as foreign, the way Hispanics or West Indians do. For evidence, I present the dozens if not hundreds of Canadians who have had careers in American media - Tom Jennings, Dave Foley, Colbie Smulders, Alan Thicke. Unless it’s part of their act - like Colbie Smulder’s character on _How I Met Your Mother_ - most Americans don’t even realize they’re from the Great White North. > [@OldOlds](#): > > 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. Exactly. I think most Americans know that the rest of the English-speaking world says things like “petrol” and “lorry” and “lift”, because those things come up more often in media. “Zed” is pretty subtle, though - the only time I notice it is when Jeremy Clarke talks about the BMW “Zed-Four” or the “Nissan Zed series” on _Top Gear_. And come to that, how many of you Commonwealth folk know that the Japanese automaker is pronounced “NEE-sahn” in the US, as opposed to “N’ sahn”? Same sort of subtle difference that doesn’t come up all that often. Lastly, the Alphabet Song does _not_ work as well with “zed”. Sing it to yourself; it goes “ay bee cee dee eee ef GEE, aich eye jay kay ellemenoh PEE, kyew arr ess, tee yew VEE, double-yew ecks, wye and ZEE. Now I know my ay-bee-CEEs, next time won’t you sing with MEE.” The stressed syllables carry the rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/220 "2013-05-07T01:39:56Z")
At my kids’ school I’ve noticed that they’ve kind of given up on the “alphabet song” these days, and rap the alphabet instead. Then you don’t care, because _nothing_ rhymes A. B. A B C. A B C D EFG. H. I. H I J. H I J K LMN. (and so on and so forth) [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=10) [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=12)