# Do the British sleep with zedzedzedzedzedzeds above their heads? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803 "2009-10-31T02:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/81 "2009-11-05T03:40:01Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > Generally I hear it pronounced zee-ro. How do you pronounce zenith? This is getting quite fascinating. For me zero is short. Not short e, that would be wierd. Rather z-i-rho. Long e just seems wrong. z-ee-rho? Nope, nobody of British heritage would say that. Zenith. Short e. Surely no-one says Z-ee-n-i-th ? How about Zen? Or indeed Zed? A z-ee-n koan? Ugh!! ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Astronaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bad\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/82 "2009-11-05T04:02:14Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > This is getting quite fascinating. > > For me zero is short. Not short e, that would be wierd. Rather z-i-rho. Long e just seems wrong. z-ee-rho? Nope, nobody of British heritage would say that. > > Zenith. Short e. Surely no-one says Z-ee-n-i-th ? > > How about Zen? Or indeed Zed? A z-ee-n koan? Ugh!! Canadian here, I don’t know how far you consider British Heritage to stretch… But I do use some long e’s. Zeer-oh (but not zee-roh). Identical pronunciation to hero. Zee-nith But zed and zen of course have the same vowel sound. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/83 "2009-11-05T04:13:12Z")
> [@Bad\_Astronaut](#): > > Zeer-oh (but not zee-roh). Identical pronunciation to hero. Ah, yes, that is what I’m trying to say. Same as hero. It seems to be partly a matter of where the “r” associates. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/84 "2009-11-05T05:03:09Z")
[5th joke down](http://lileen92.blogspot.com/2009/08/funny-joke.html). When I first read this years ago, had to re-read it a number of times before I finally twigged what the joke was. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/85 "2009-11-05T10:19:15Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > [5th joke down](http://lileen92.blogspot.com/2009/08/funny-joke.html). When I first read this years ago, had to re-read it a number of times before I finally twigged what the joke was. We told that joke at my (British) primary school. Some Brits do pronounce that word “zeebra”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/86 "2009-11-05T11:30:09Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Long e just seems wrong. z-ee-rho? Nope, nobody of British heritage would say that. 😕 Well I do and most people I know would say it the same way. As I suggested above, the idea that the pronunciation of a word is related to the pronunciation of the letters therein is bogus. You don’t pronounce ‘kick’ as 'kay-i-kay". Some ‘ze…’ words are pronounced with a vowel sound like that of ‘breed’, some with the sound that is in ‘bread’ and other with some variant thereof. (Of course none of us pronounce these other words uniformly…). ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/87 "2009-11-05T18:59:09Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Zed is customarily pronounced zed in Canada as well, though one does hear zee here with some regularity due to the porous border. > [@Gyrate](#): > > It has to be pronounced “zee” - otherwise the song doesn’t rhyme. > [@legalsnugs](#): > > How does the Alphabet Song go in non-American English? (to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star): “a, b, c, d, e, f, g,…q, r, s; t, u, v; w, x, y and…” zed? > > Or is the Alphabet Song just in America? My kids, who are of the age to learn the alphabet and still have an affinity for the song (7 and almost 5) I’ve heard sing both ways. For example, I caught my daughter singing it over and over, and using both pronounciations willy nilly when singing (sometimes she’d end with “zed”, sometimes “zee”.) How Canadian of her! My son (the almost 5 year old) on the other hand, is attending French immersion kindergarten, so lately he’s been singing the song in French (and quite well I might add, he’s definitely at the age to learn things easily) - and in French it’s always “zed” (which makes the song quasi-rhyme at about the same level as British/Canadian pronounciation of “z” does, ie the rhyming lines in the French versions are “zhi” (g), “pay” (p), “vay” (v), “zed” (z)) ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/88 "2009-11-05T19:14:15Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > [5th joke down](http://lileen92.blogspot.com/2009/08/funny-joke.html). When I first read this years ago, had to re-read it a number of times before I finally twigged what the joke was. Hmm, your humour may vary I guess. Canada is a charming blend of American and British words and spellings and pronounciations that changes all the time - you’ll notice I already spelled “humour” correctly. 😉 Canadians, though, always pronounce the animal like the Yanks (zee-bra), never heard any Canadian call it a zehbra. Regardless, knowing full well going into the joke that I’d have to pronounce zebra like a Brit (zeh-bra), I still don’t get the joke. But then a quick scan of the jokes tells me that Jerry Seinfeld has nothing to fear from this guy … ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/89 "2009-11-05T19:35:13Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > [5th joke down](http://lileen92.blogspot.com/2009/08/funny-joke.html). When I first read this years ago, had to re-read it a number of times before I finally twigged what the joke was. That joke really doesn’t flow for me (nor most Merkins) because no one here would pronounce the end of the word “zebra” as “bra”; it comes out more as “bruh” \* and the accent is on the first syllable. The joke is only funny (IMO) if the person zebra as zee-BRA. We’d say ZEE-bruh. \*Note the “uh” uses the same vowel sound used in us". ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/90 "2009-11-05T20:09:58Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > in French it’s always “zed” (which makes the song quasi-rhyme at about the same level as British/Canadian pronounciation of “z” does, ie the rhyming lines in the French versions are “zhi” (g), “pay” (p), “vay” (v), “zed” (z)) ‘g’ would be pronounced sort of like “zhay” in French, with a short ‘ay’. “zhi” would be ‘j’. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/91 "2009-11-05T20:36:05Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > ‘g’ would be pronounced sort of like “zhay” in French, with a short ‘ay’. “zhi” would be ‘j’. :smack: Damn. _Always_ get them mixed up. Of course, son doesn’t. :o (Complicated, at least in my mind, by the fact that the French “g” sound more like an English “j” than an English “g”, and vice versa.) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/92 "2009-11-05T21:24:19Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > That joke really doesn’t flow for me (nor most Merkins) because no one here would pronounce the end of the word “zebra” as “bra”; it comes out more as “bruh” \* and the accent is on the first syllable. The joke is only funny (IMO) if the person zebra as zee-BRA. > > We’d say ZEE-bruh. > > \*Note the “uh” uses the same vowel sound used in us". While that joke is hardly the zenith, or even zeenith, of comic sophistication, the version in that link is particularly poorly presented. In the standard British school playground version, the speaker adopts a cod French accent, which makes the “zee-bra” bit work better. The story being something to do with a French person who travels by plane (hence “take-off”) to somewhere that zebras are found, and then a baby is involved in some way that I don’t recall. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/93 "2009-11-05T22:12:30Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > ‘g’ would be pronounced sort of like “zhay” in French, with a short ‘ay’. “zhi” would be ‘j’. I thought it was zhay with a long a. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/94 "2009-11-05T23:26:14Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I thought it was zhay with a long a. I’m not sure what you mean. In French, the _name_ of the letter ‘g’ is pronounced [ʒe], which you can transcribe in English as “zhay” but the ‘ay’ sound is relatively short. > [@dhkendall](#): > > (Complicated, at least in my mind, by the fact that the French “g” sound more like an English “j” than an English “g”, and vice versa.) It’s true for the letter’s name. The sound they make is relatively similar ([g] or [dʒ] in English, [g] or [ʒ] in French). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/95 "2009-11-06T01:33:19Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Ah, yes, that is what I’m trying to say. Same as hero. You realise that comparing pronunciation to other words is useless in these conversations right? I pronounce zero to rhyme with hero, but so does an American, the problem is that the American pronounces both zero _and_ hero differently to me. ---
**Author:** ![bagga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@bagga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagga)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/96 "2009-11-06T05:01:37Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Not only too much American television, but your spell checker must be set to American English, otherwise how do you explain spelling “licence” incorrectly? 🙂 Damn that cultural hegemony :mad: I must fall on my teapot! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/97 "2009-11-06T10:26:44Z")
British girlband All Saints covered both bases in “Never Ever”: early in the song you get > [@](#): > > Flexing vocabulary runs right through me > The alphabet runs right from A to Zee Later it returns as > [@](#): > > Sometimes vocabulary runs through my head > The alphabet runs right from A to Zed Always keep your options open, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/98 "2009-11-06T11:51:24Z")
Any Gong fans here? I never realised there were different permutations possible for the pronunciation of Zero the Hero. I pronounce both words the same. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/99 "2009-11-10T15:55:58Z")
I was just reading up on napping, and according to [this diagram](http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/27/napping-guide-health-wellbeing#), at least some UKers fall asleep by “counting… floating zeds”. Good question… I wonder why “z” became the alphabet’s graphical sleep representative. Do other languages use different letters, the same, or is the idea of a single letter string only a shorthand for sleep in English? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803/100 "2009-11-10T18:19:55Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > I’m not sure what you mean. In French, the _name_ of the letter ‘g’ is pronounced [ʒe], which you can transcribe in English as “zhay” but the ‘ay’ sound is relatively short. Right, I thought g = zhay, rhymes with pay and j = zhee, rhymes with pee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-british-sleep-with-zedzedzedzedzedzeds-above-their-heads/515803.md?page=6)