When talking to The Planet tech support around 6 months ago I got introduced to saying the letter Z to an American...

I have been in Ireland and pronounced it as "Zed" and people understood me, and that was how they pronounced it also...

But Americans pronounce it as "Zee" now where my problem is is how to make the letters C and Z sound different...

In School you get thaught English as secondary language but it's the U.K English, not American...

So how do I pronounce it? Anyone dare to upload a wavefile? ;-)

How to pronounce Z?

Zat is zee question.:D

It makes you sound like Drakula.

easiest way is to use words to associate the sound of the letter. I find myself having to do this when taking on the phone to people all the time.

A-Alpha
B-Beta
C-Charlie
Z-Zebra

You just use a word that is easily associated with that letter.

To try and explain the C and Z sounds, the C(See) would sound a bit like a hissing. The Z(Zee) is more of a zipping sound.

"Zed"

Z's buzz....

C's hiss....

Zed's dead baby, Zed's dead.

Zed, but I'm from Ireland ;) My wifes american & she does indeed say "zee". Just stick with Zed ;)

I've never heard of anyone saying Zed instead of Zee....I'm american...So I guess thats all i've ever heard...

xyZee..

Hmm doesn't sound right.

xy Zed :D

ZED

I'm an American who lived in the UK for a few years - I think it really depends on current company. When I'm around anyone who has lived in or currently lives in Europe I pronounce it Zed. I work with several Irish folk here so it's Zed for them and Zee for my US associates.

Just adding my vote for Zed...

It's not your fault those americans never learned how to pronounce the words properly ;) :D

Na come on guys, you're all backwards..Its zeeeeeeeeee :D

Zed here. Now just try pronouncing that old BBC TV series 'Z Cars' ('Zed' Cars). It just just doesn't sound right with a 'Zee'. Unless maybe you are french. :D

Alright, now you have really cleared up my confusion, thanx allot guys!

Zee(d) out ;-)

So now we progress to the letter H, Some say aitch some say haitch

you say potato............:grinthumb

zed.........

Must be a British Empire thingy.

Z is a letter, Zed is the old man who lives down the road, sits on his front porch cleaning his toenails with a hunting knife :p

You guys ever heard how the name "America" came into being?
About a thousand years ago, some vikings discovered land at the other side of the ocean.
They found some natives on the beach, who started jumping and shouting when they saw this big ship. So the Viking's chief, Eric, climbed onto the railing of the ship, and also started jumping, while shouting "I'm Eric, I'm Eric". Then his foot slipped, and the shout sounded like "I'm Eric, Aaaaggghhh".


PS: Zed for me (Irish), Zee for my wife (American)

IINM, it's "Zed" but Americans (like me) pronounce it "Zee".

In Pakistan, since they use British english, it's "Zed", and it's "Zeb-ra" not "Zee-bra".

It's cool :grinthumb

The little ABC's song you hear on kids shows in the US has lots of rhymes in it, and if you say Zed it just doesn't fit the rhyme of the rest of the song.

Originally posted by realblackstuff
You guys ever heard how the name "America" came into being?
About a thousand years ago, some vikings discovered land at the other side of the ocean.
They found some natives on the beach, who started jumping and shouting when they saw this big ship. So the Viking's chief, Eric, climbed onto the railing of the ship, and also started jumping, while shouting "I'm Eric, I'm Eric". Then his foot slipped, and the shout sounded like "I'm Eric, Aaaaggghhh".

hahahaha. actually America was named after the italian cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. he was the guy who finally said that North America, Central America, and South America (what it is now) were not part of Asia as Columbus thought. or at least that was the way i was taught by my teacher. funny story nevertheless.

Just use the phonetic alphabet :

alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, echo, foxtrot, golf, hotel, india, juliet, kilo, mike, november, october, papa, quebec, romeo, sierra, tango, uniform, victor, whiskey, x-ray, yankee, zulu...

It's pretty universal...

"Z" is never pronounced with a zed sound in any word therefore the American pronounciation would be correct when reffering to the letter in a non-mathmatical sense.
Zed is a throwback to the greek alphabet and apparently the only way for you thick-toungued Europeans to understand eachother.

It was Eric the red who descovered Greenland, and his son Lief Ericsson who discovered Newfoundland and later America.

The Native American tribes might disagree with you on who discovered America.

Where is "Z" pronounced with a Zee sound?

In Canada and Britain it's supposed to be Zed, but here in Canada most of us say Zee. If you have troubleyou can use the system that (insert name of person with good idea) posted about. My entire family always does this, and we never have problems.

Real easy, real fast .02 explanation! :)

Z = "Zee" [sound]
C = "See" [sound]
S = "SSS" [sound]

That easy />_<\

Z = Zed

Not on North America. My parents are austrailian and say "Zed" but everyone else here in america says "Zee" :)

Like I said earlier its Zee, otherwise that ABC song wouldn't have been developed. Z has to rhyme with B, C, D, E, G, P, and V otherwise the song doesn't work.

Good point SNGX.... I guess I missed that post :p

I have a question for you people who pronounce Z as Zed.

Does it sound like Zeed or Zed?

ZED. z e d . Alos, what does TCPA stand for?

Originally posted by Rory7
ZED. z e d . Alos, what does TCPA stand for?

You can learn alot about their evil doings... http://www.againsttcpa.com/

XTR-x
Have you read Dan Brown's "Digital Fortress?" or Neal Stephenson's "Crytonomicon"? Seems the tcpa is a problem that goes all the way back to WW2. Wait till they adopt electronic voting- the Diebold system is laughably unsecured...

--------> Somebody needs to initiate a "Z" or "Zed" poll and stick a knife in this thread...

To bring this useless topic back to life...


....


Zee!