# "Zee" vs "Zed" in the UK **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229 "2010-01-16T20:21:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gks1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@gks1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gks1)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/1 "2010-01-16T20:21:01Z")
I heard a Scouser say “zee” when pronouncing the last letter of the alphabet and since I thought it was pronounced “zed” in the UK it got me wondering perhaps not. So, what’s the deal? Are there many places that pronounce it that way? Do all Scousers pronounce it that way? I’m guessing it’s a regional thing but how common is it? (For those who don’t know, a Scouser is a person from Liverpool). Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/2 "2010-01-16T20:30:51Z")
I could be losing touch with my roots but I am guessing it’s something unusual to that person. I think most people on this side of the pond still say ‘zed’ ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/3 "2010-01-16T20:37:46Z")
I have some friends in New Zealand with this question comes up from time to time. Whether they say “zed” or “zee” or other things like “Mee-Mo” versus “meh-mo.” The answer is “It depends on if I’m feeling ‘posh’ or not.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/4 "2010-01-16T20:50:41Z")
He’s probably from the Wirral! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/5 "2010-01-16T21:21:54Z")
I blame Sesame Street. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/6 "2010-01-16T21:30:21Z")
Nope, not a regional thing. Just an individual quirk. Either he’s been heavily influenced by US culture or he was adjusting his words for an American interlocutor. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/7 "2010-01-16T23:10:44Z")
If a scouser is saying “zee” he’s trying to sound like an American for reasons best known to himself. We all [British people, including scousers] say “zed”. All except your scouser, who apperently says “zee” for no apparent reason and is presumably mocked for it by his peers. Why not ask him why he says “zee”? Maybe there was a valid one-off contextual reason for it (not that I can think of one). Or maybe he’s just a twat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/8 "2010-01-17T00:35:24Z")
I’m in Canada, and we say “zed”. I get irked if people here say “zee”. It’s so… American. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gks1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@gks1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gks1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/9 "2010-01-17T03:13:14Z")
The person in question was in a film clip I saw. He didn’t seem to be joking around but who knows. Anyway, thanks for the replies. As a side note, does anyone know why Americans say zee instead of zed? Just to piss us off? 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/10 "2010-01-17T03:17:03Z")
> [@gks1](#): > > The person in question was in a film clip I saw. He didn’t seem to be joking around but who knows. Anyway, thanks for the replies. > > As a side note, does anyone know why Americans say zee instead of zed? Just to piss us off? 😛 😃 [All glory to the HypnoDope!](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1632/why-do-the-british-pronounced-the-letter-z-zed) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/11 "2010-01-17T03:22:44Z")
> [@gks1](#): > > The person in question was in a film clip I saw. He didn’t seem to be joking around but who knows. Anyway, thanks for the replies. > > As a side note, does anyone know why Americans say zee instead of zed? Just to piss us off? 😛 😃 Sort of. While there were many pronunciations of the letter before the U.S. was founded, I believe this pronunciation was chosen over the others to make American English different. Also, note that it’s not that hard to get from zed to zee: zed can be pronounced more like zid or zayd, the d can become so faint as to be silent, and the ih or ay sound at the end of a word often becomes the ee sound. So Zed \> Zid \> Zih \> Zee. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/12 "2010-01-17T03:26:54Z")
As an American, I find the whole zed thing confusing. Even in the UK B isn’t pronouced bed, nor C as ced (all three “rhyme” here), and dictionaries don’t give zed-bra as a possible pronuciation for zebra unlike zeb-rah so it seems as the zed thing isn’t followed through with in all cases. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/13 "2010-01-17T03:28:45Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > As an American, I find the whole zed thing confusing. Even in the UK B isn’t pronouced bed, nor C as ced (all three “rhyme” here), and dictionaries don’t give zed-bra as a possible pronuciation for zebra unlike zeb-rah so it seems as the zed thing isn’t followed through with in all cases. I believe it’s because “z” is derived from “zeta” and the consonant just never got bred out of the pronunciation of the standalone character (except for the obvious cases we’re discussing now). ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/14 "2010-01-17T08:25:32Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > As an American, I find the whole zed thing confusing. Even in the UK B isn’t pronouced bed, nor C as ced (all three “rhyme” here), and dictionaries don’t give zed-bra as a possible pronuciation for zebra unlike zeb-rah so it seems as the zed thing isn’t followed through with in all cases. Do you pronounce “water” as Double-yoo-ater? ---
**Author:** ![gks1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@gks1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gks1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/15 "2010-01-17T10:22:38Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > [All glory to the HypnoDope!](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1632/why-do-the-british-pronounced-the-letter-z-zed) Thanks for the link, I should have known Cecil had already answered this one. It’s surprising how many pronunciations for “zed” there were in the past. “Ezod” and “izzard”? That’s ROFL inducing. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/16 "2010-01-17T11:06:51Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > As an American, I find the whole zed thing confusing. Even in the UK B isn’t pronouced bed, nor C as ced (all three “rhyme” here), and dictionaries don’t give zed-bra as a possible pronuciation for zebra unlike zeb-rah so it seems as the zed thing isn’t followed through with in all cases. Why on earth would the name of a letter carry through to how it sounds as part of a word? Why should a particular letter rhyme with other letters? Why should Zed rhyme with Bee and not Aitch? (Why do you not find it confusing that Zed is not called Zaitch?) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/17 "2010-01-17T11:58:59Z")
Do I hear banjos…? “Now, this is the story of as letter named ‘Zed’…” ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/18 "2010-01-17T14:39:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > As an American, I find the whole zed thing confusing. Even in the UK B isn’t pronouced bed, nor C as ced (all three “rhyme” here), and dictionaries don’t give zed-bra as a possible pronuciation for zebra unlike zeb-rah so it seems as the zed thing isn’t followed through with in all cases. And “K” isn’t pronounced “Kee”, “Y” isn’t pronounced “Yee”, “W” isn’t pronounced “Wee”, “F” isn’t pronounced “Fee”, J isn’t pronounced “Jee”, “L” isn’ pronounced “Lee”… and so on. You get my point. Zebra in the UK is pronounced “zEH-bra”. I’m not sure why it should be pronounced “Zed-bra” any more than “Water” should be pronounced “Double-you-ater” or “Candle” should be pronounced “See-andle”. You don’t pronounce the _names_ of letters when speaking, you just make the relevant sound. Which, um, I’m not really sure why I’m telling you this because I know you know it; the question just seemed a bit odd to me. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/19 "2010-01-17T14:46:19Z")
A man called the phone company to complain about his listing in the directory. “I told you that my last name is Sweady,” he said, “but you have it listed as Cyirwu.” “I’m sorry, sir,” the phone company rep said. “I’ll fix it so it’ll be correct the next time we publish the directory. Now how do you spell your name?” “Just like I told you before,” the customer said. “It’s S as in sea, W as in why, E as in eye, A as in are, D as in double-u and Y as in you.” ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229/20 "2010-01-17T15:03:15Z")
The only time I have ever heard any Brit (including a Scouser) pronounce it “Zee” is if it’s immediately followed by “Zee top”. And please, let’s not get into the whole “Zebra” debate again. Americans don’t call that thing in your fly a “zee-ipper” any more than we call it a “zed-ip”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zee-vs-zed-in-the-uk/525229.md?page=2)