# Why do Canadians call a "z" zed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599 "2003-08-12T07:03:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/1 "2003-08-12T07:03:55Z")
Sorry if this has been covered before, but zed is too short a parameter. Origins? ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/2 "2003-08-12T07:06:13Z")
My WAG is that since “zed” is the word for “z” in French, and much of Canada is French speaking, it just crossed over. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/3 "2003-08-12T07:07:44Z")
“Z” is also “zed” in England, which makes up the rest of the Canadian language ---
**Author:** ![Angelic1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@Angelic1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angelic1)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/4 "2003-08-12T07:12:18Z")
Pronunciation of Z depends entirely on what you were taught at school. Here in New Zealand we pronounce it Zee but lol on talking to my husband as I write this he was brought up with Zed and says that Zee comes from Sesame Street??? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![quarrossimo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@quarrossimo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quarrossimo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/5 "2003-08-12T07:18:14Z")
Zed Zed Zed We were brought up on zed. Everyone says zed. Where I am being a former British Colony, I guess it’s a colonial hangover. Now, with American television channels, enough people say zee for it to be recognizable as a zed-substitute. So much so that we actually have a TV channel called Zee 😛 I guess zed is Brit while zee is American - or is it much more complicated than that? ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/6 "2003-08-12T07:45:27Z")
[Covered before.](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mzed.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/7 "2003-08-12T07:51:24Z")
It is just a matter of tradition I think and extends to more than just the letter Z - for example why do we call A ‘Aiy’ and not ‘Ah’ (like the French do)? The word ‘Zebra’ is pronounced differently by Brits (the ‘e’ is a short one as in ‘bed’) and Americans (‘Zeebra’) - I suspect though that this must be effect rather than cause. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/8 "2003-08-12T08:02:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > **It is just a matter of tradition I think and extends to more than just the letter Z - for example why do we call A ‘Aiy’ and not ‘Ah’ (like the French do)?** In Ireland A is often pronounced “Ah”. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/9 "2003-08-12T08:07:04Z")
My Malyasian mum uses ‘zed’. She picked it up from the Malay (ie, Commonwealth) english system. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/10 "2003-08-12T09:35:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*In Ireland A is often pronounced “Ah”. \*\* You mean when reciting the names of the alphabet characters? In England it is “Aiy, Bee, See, Dee, Ee, Eff, Jee… Eks, Wy, Zed” In France it is “Ah, Bé, Sé…” Is that what you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/11 "2003-08-12T09:51:37Z")
Well, I don’t know about reciting the names of the characters, but when spelling out a word, yes. And it’s not the only unusual (to my American/ your English ears) pronunciation here. My username, for example, might be spelled out: Or, You, Ah, Dee, Haitch as opposed to the Ar, You, Ay, Dee, Aitch way that you and I would say it. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/12 "2003-08-12T09:53:08Z")
That first sentence made no sense, did it? I should have said: “I don’t know about reciting the alphabet, but when spelling out a word aloud” … ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/13 "2003-08-12T10:47:02Z")
Of course, to British ears/eyes, the thread title seems ridiculous. You read it to yourself as “Why do Canadians call a zed zed?”. To which the only answer can be, “Duh!” 😉 As far as I know, the US is unique among Anglophone countries in having the “zee” pronunciation, although of course the export of (aagh) Sesame Street worldwide is probably influencing the tongues of formerly zed-loving kids… I was interested to hear that “zee” is common in New _Zee_land these days, though… ---
**Author:** ![Pergau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7c8e57/32.png) [@Pergau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pergau)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/14 "2003-08-12T12:45:51Z")
When I was learning the alphabet, it was A (rhymes with baa)and Z (Zed) But about the same time, we got children’s TV and Sesame Street so we heard the Alphabet song: ABCDEFG HIJKLMNOP QRU TUV W X Y and Zee. Now you know the ABC, you can sing along with me. And that sounded really weird because they mispronounced Z. I think that this song, and Sesame Street in particular, is responsible for the mispronounciation of the letter Z. Although you could also accuse the letter V because of the rhyming scheme. Around the same time. I remember my English Cousins learning the alphabet phonetically: Ah ba ka da eh feh geh etc. I hope that that has died a death. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/15 "2003-08-12T13:08:18Z")
Whatever happened to that bearded rock trio _Zed Zed Top_? ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/16 "2003-08-12T13:26:45Z")
Actually, I’ve grown to start using “zed” after too much time in phone support. Trying issuing customers from all over the country (that come from all over the world) a serial number with a “z” in it and you usually get this: Me: “1-2-3-4-zee” Them: “Vee?” Me: “No, zee.” Them: “Vee or zee?” Me: “Zed.” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/17 "2003-08-12T13:55:43Z")
[Pulp Fiction] - Who’s Zed? - Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead. [/Pulp Fiction] ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/18 "2003-08-12T14:06:01Z")
The “zee” pronounciation obviously for rhyme value. Rhymes with “bee,” “cee,” “dee,” “ee,” “gee,” “pee,” “tee,” and “vee.” No letter rhymes with “zed.” ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/19 "2003-08-12T15:22:02Z")
Why isn’t the second letter of the alphabet called “bed”, then? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599/20 "2003-08-12T15:40:09Z")
Because the names are not logically derived, they are simply names - you might just as well be asking why the second letter isn’t called Buhbeeeeeewooo! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-canadians-call-a-z-zed/194599.md?page=2)