# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/21 "2013-05-03T12:32:02Z")
Part of the lyrics from **My Fair Lady** mentions “A” to “Zed.” I think that was about 1956 or so. Every Broadway music lover was singing the lyrics, but I doubt that we were actually thinking about what we were singing. That’s been a few years – over half a century. I’m surprised that still more people didn’t find “zed” in James Bond movies. Our cultures and what we are interested in vary over here quite a bit. Some of us are Anglophiles. Others don’t speak English yet. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/22 "2013-05-03T12:39:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/23 "2013-05-03T12:41:24Z")
I learned it in first grade, back in 1959. My grandson learned it from me before he went to school. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/24 "2013-05-03T12:43:14Z")
I think most reasonably educated Americans are aware that zed is how much of the English speaking world prounce the letter z, not just in Commonwealth countries, but in many places where English is a common second language. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/25 "2013-05-03T12:48:58Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > and ph in sulfur. That’s out of date, now. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/26 "2013-05-03T12:52:06Z")
> [@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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/27 "2013-05-03T12:56:49Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > That’s out of date, now. 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. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/28 "2013-05-03T13:05:21Z")
I blame music. I mean try to sing the A-B-C song and pronounce “Zed”. Even the Eurythmics couldn’t save that one. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/29 "2013-05-03T13:08:08Z")
I learned it from musical group All Saints in the song [Never Ever](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx6DtgW_uh0). That was back around 1998, so I would have been about 25 before I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/30 "2013-05-03T13:12:47Z")
Not unaware so much as indifferent. It really makes no difference how foreigners pronounce letters. ---
**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 3, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/31 "2013-05-03T13:15:08Z")
> [@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. As if you have the first clue what an “average American” knows. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/32 "2013-05-03T13:16:56Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Not unaware so much as indifferent. It really makes no difference how foreigners pronounce letters. Pretty much this. It’s not necessarily that Americans don’t know, it’s that it doesn’t affect the way we do things so we don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/33 "2013-05-03T13:25:08Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > As if you have the first clue what an “average American” knows. 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”? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/34 "2013-05-03T13:27:52Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Pretty much this. It’s not necessarily that Americans don’t know, it’s that it doesn’t affect the way we do things so we don’t care. This exactly. I know how the British pronounce the letter Z, but I’m not British and don’t live in the UK, so what difference does it make to me? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/35 "2013-05-03T13:38:31Z")
Even though it is ever so reprehensible that US natives are unaware of the customs and habits of those of other countries, and in fact many firmly believe things that they could disabuse themselves of with a few mouse clicks (like the amount of foreign aid the US dispenses for example), before everyone gets all contemptuous, take a look at a map, and realize that the vast majority of people in the US live at least a thousand miles from a foreign country with the exception of Mexico – which many unconsciously believe to be a US ghetto, not a real country. We are vast. If having a passport allowed one to drive to France for a nice dinner that would be one thing. The reasons that the US population is ignorant about the cultures of the world aren’t just because we’re pugnaciously stupid. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/36 "2013-05-03T13:49:30Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > The reasons that the US population is ignorant about the cultures of the world aren’t just because we’re pugnaciously stupid. Although that is a factor. Unless the pronunciation difference leads to a war that threatens our oil supply, we just don’t care how others pronounce things. They’re foreigners, wrong by definition, and they probably eat weird shit too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![hussle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f4b2a3/32.png) [@hussle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hussle)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/37 "2013-05-03T13:56:55Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Even though it is ever so reprehensible that US natives are unaware of the customs and habits of those of other countries, and in fact many firmly believe things that they could disabuse themselves of with a few mouse clicks (like the amount of foreign aid the US dispenses for example), before everyone gets all contemptuous, take a look at a map, and realize that the vast majority of people in the US live at least a thousand miles from a foreign country with the exception of Mexico – which many unconsciously believe to be a US ghetto, not a real country. We are vast. If having a passport allowed one to drive to France for a nice dinner that would be one thing. The reasons that the US population is ignorant about the cultures of the world aren’t just because we’re pugnaciously stupid. At least a thousand miles away huh? Really? Look north! Americans, geez honestly! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/38 "2013-05-03T14:00:41Z")
“Foreign.” Canada is just North North Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/39 "2013-05-03T14:01:59Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > .. the vast majority of people in the US live at least a thousand miles from a foreign country with the exception of Mexico – which many unconsciously believe to be a US ghetto, not a real country. … What are you saying about Canada? That we consciously believe it to be a US ghetto? Notes: Montreal is only a 371 mile drive from New York City. Toronto is not much farther. ---
**Author:** ![RememberMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@RememberMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RememberMe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-really-unaware-the-letter-z-is-pronounced-zed-in-the-uk-australia-nz/657399/40 "2013-05-03T14:02:13Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Yes, Americans are culturally isolated. I ask those who deny this to tell us if they even have a passport. We don’t need a passport to experience cultural diversity. Not trying to get all defensive here, but you seem to equate having a passport to a level of cultural knowledge. Your average American town will have resturants influenced by dozens of cultures, as do the meals a family prepares at home. Here in America, different cultures come to US. [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=1) [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=3)