Why would you pronounce the letter "Z" as "Zed"?

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zanzibarbreeze

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#1  Edited By zanzibarbreeze

I hate to be one of those people that starts a million threads a day, but I'm wondering what you guyzes think about the letter Z, correctly pronounced Zee. I understand the historical reason for pronouncing it "Zed" - it comes from the Greek, et cetera. But I don't know of any instance in a word in the English language where you would pronounce the letter Z as Zed. You don't say Zed-bra, for example, you say Zee-bra. You don't say zed-alous, either. 
 
I've done a quick mental run-through of the alphabet, and for every other letter there's a equal pronunciation of letter in word. For example - C: cinnamon, cest, cesspool. There are some fluky ones like M, but nothing as big as the disparity between how the letter Zee is pronounced in words and how it is said.

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GreggD

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#2  Edited By GreggD

I don't trust your assumptions, as you're a xenophobe. How do I know this? You posted a very dumb remark in the foreign music thread.

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Sprites

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#3  Edited By Sprites

Because I am a unique snowflake.

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vaiz

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#4  Edited By vaiz

English English came before we (America, et al) came along and made it a "zee". Language is not retroactive, Zed is the 'proper' way to pronounce it. Just like Nuclear is noo-clear, not noo-kyoo-lar.

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fwylo

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#5  Edited By fwylo

Correctly pronounced Zee


 What makes that correct?  You say Zeebra, not because you pronounce Z like Zee, but because that is how you spell the word.  You don't say zee-alous either.
 
I say Zed because that's how I learned to say it, and if it is like that because of the roots of where it came from, then that would probably be the correct way of saying it...
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zanzibarbreeze

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#6  Edited By zanzibarbreeze
@GreggD: I like how you took that joke seriously. :)
 
@punkxblaze: I've never heard anybody say noo-clear. Noo-klee-er is what most people say, and is accepted as the correct pronunciation. Only Kiefer Sutherland says noo-kyoo-lar (if you watch 24, you'll know that for some reason he went from saying noo-klee-er in season 2 through to 5, and then he started saying noo-kyoo-lar).
 
I remember a British friend who once said Dragon Ball Zed. Needless to say, he learned from his mistake. I've heard everyone refer to it as the 350 Zee, too (for the Nissan 350Z, of course). Never heard of the Nissan 350 Zed, although, again, I've heard from some people that that's how the Japanese intended it to be said. Can't find any evidence pertaining to that though so I think that might be fabricated.
 
Whatever, duders. This wasn't meant as an attack on anybody or their culture, by the way. Just an interesting observation. Just wondering why; for me there's such a large difference between the British pronunciation of the letter and the way it's implemented in words that it seems a little strange.
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Elazul

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#7  Edited By Elazul

This topic makes absolutely no sense. For example, no words that begin with the letter X are pronounced with an "ex" sound. Please, think things through before randomly creating topics about them.

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BrickRoad

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#8  Edited By BrickRoad

The name of the letter is Zed. Just like Y is Why. You dont say Whyellow. Zed is the correct name for that letter if you speak British English (and therefore 'actual English' BOOM!)

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darkfury

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#9  Edited By darkfury

What's with these pronunciation threads you're making? You in the right place? Its 'Zed'.

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Aetos

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#10  Edited By Aetos

I pronounce it "zee" so I have no clue. I just figured it was different dialects and didn't give much thought to it.

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LiquidPrince

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#11  Edited By LiquidPrince
@BrickRoad said:
" The name of the letter is Zed. Just like Y is Why. You dont say Whyellow. Zed is the correct name for that letter if you speak British English (and therefore 'actual English' BOOM!) "
Exactly. Thank you, because I was just about to post the same thing.
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vaiz

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#12  Edited By vaiz

Also, Zebra is pronounced "zeh-bra" in some places, in fact. Zing.

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CrimsonDawn

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#13  Edited By CrimsonDawn

I'm just wondering how someone can actually pronounce nuclear "noo-kyoo-lar". I don't understand where anyone ever got that "kyoo" sound from.

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FreakAche

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#14  Edited By FreakAche

It's pronounced 'zed'. 'Zee' sounds too much like 'C'.
 
Edit: Also, I'm Canadian, and there's this weird stigma over pronouncing it 'zee' up here. I'm not really sure why.

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ViciousReiven

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#15  Edited By ViciousReiven

The reason we have new English is because old English was inferior.

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I_smell

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#16  Edited By I_smell
@ZanzibarBreeze said:
" I've done a quick mental run-through of the alphabet, and for every other letter there's a equal pronunciation of letter in word. For example - C: cinnamon, cest, cesspool. There are some fluky ones like M, but nothing as big as the disparity between how the letter Zee is pronounced in words and how it is said. "
Ey Bee Sea Dee Ee Ef Jee, what the hell are you talking about? This is both crazy and wrong.
Also the villain in later episodes of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was called Lord Zed and he had a big Z on him, so we are left to assume that that is how you pronounce it.
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alternate

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#17  Edited By alternate

 the letter Z, correctly pronounced Zee
 
 But I don't know of any instance in a word in the English language where you would pronounce the letter Z as Zed. You don't say Zed-bra, for example


 You make a of assumptions, so I am not going to just assume you are another insular american, likely as that seems.  FYI - Zebra is Zed-bra in English.  Zee-bra in American-English. 
 
Anyway there are so few words when the "Z" is pronounced as either ZEE or ZED.  Zealot, Zoology, Zeitgeist, Zero, etc.
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tmthomsen

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#18  Edited By tmthomsen

It's pronounced as "Zed" in my native language, Danish, as well.

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Ubiquitous

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#19  Edited By Ubiquitous

@ZanzibarBreeze: 
 
No one I have ever met has ever pronounced the letter Z as zed, thats crazytalk. But not as crazy as you Zed-an-Zed-ibarBreeze.
 

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uniform

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#20  Edited By uniform

 Zed's dead, baby, Zed's dead.

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zanzibarbreeze

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#21  Edited By zanzibarbreeze
@I_smell said:

Ey Bee Sea Dee Ee Ef Jee, what the hell are you talking about? This is both crazy and wrong. "

I didn't mean all the time, man. I meant that there's at least some words where both line up. Find me a legitimate word in the English language where the Z is said as Zed. That's what I meant. There might be one, I don't know. I spent about a minute looking on Dictionary.com. Couldn't find one. :)
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Kiemoe

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#22  Edited By Kiemoe

Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.

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zeforgotten

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#23  Edited By zeforgotten

Because even when it's not being said in the right english way, it's still Zed. 
I'm in Denmark, that's in Europe. 
But some people out there in your nation don't have maps, so you don't even know where America is.. 
So I guess I'm giving you the xenophobe answer you would have given :D 
 
 
Americunts

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Alexander

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#24  Edited By Alexander

This is a troll thread right?

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djstyles92

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#25  Edited By djstyles92

it's pronounce "zee".  Zed sounds so wrong

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Jimbo

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#26  Edited By Jimbo

How do you pronounce "W" ?  Exactly.  And for what it's worth, I would use 'zeh-bra' as singular and 'zee-bra' as plural.  I wouldn't say 'zebras'.
 
Also, whose motorcycle is this?
 
Edit:  Beaten to Pulp Fiction twice!

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BrickRoad

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#27  Edited By BrickRoad
@ViciousReiven: The reason for new English is 'cos it's easier, not because British English is inferior.
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bubahula

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#28  Edited By bubahula

cause i am cool like that.

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riffingt0n

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#29  Edited By riffingt0n

Zed sounds way cooler.
 
I say 'zee' but I like a letter that's not afraid to start AND end in a consonant sound.  Seems right for the last letter in the alphabet to have that property.
 
Also, using "I've never heard anyone say it" as a reason just makes you come across as an insular idiot.

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WitchHunter_Z

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#30  Edited By WitchHunter_Z

Z isn't pronouced 'Zee' by an English speaker in most words, it's more of a 'Zeh' or 'Zuh' like 'Zeh-bra' or 'Zuh-hone'.
 
Americans just butchered it into 'Zee', at least the Canadians are cool enough to pronounce it properly.

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Whisperkill

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#31  Edited By Whisperkill
@Sprites said:
" Because I am a unique snowflake. "
You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying, organic matter as anything else.
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meptron

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#32  Edited By meptron

Actually ZanzibarBreeze, in Canada we do say "zed-bra", much like "zed-ro", as I indicated in the previous thread.

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MarkWahlberg

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#33  Edited By MarkWahlberg

What the fuck. I've never heard of anyone seriously using Zed instead of Z. I know about Uk-American differences and all, like gaol and SHEdule and all that.  I mean, I've heard some non-UK douchebags say Zed before, but I thought they were just being douchy. And according to Wikipedia, you can say 'izzard' too.  Anyways, 'Zee' apparently started in the 17th century, so it's legit.
 
This reminds me of something I've never been able to figure out: Who the fuck  actually says 'tomahto'?

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GreggD

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#34  Edited By GreggD
@ZanzibarBreeze: Your avatar doesn't help to sway my opinion, I'll have you know.
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zanzibarbreeze

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#35  Edited By zanzibarbreeze
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GreggD

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#36  Edited By GreggD
@ZanzibarBreeze: Well, he is Canadian.

@MarkWahlberg said:

" What the fuck. I've never heard of anyone seriously using Zed instead of Z. I know about Uk-American differences and all, like gaol and SHEdule and all that.  I mean, I've heard some non-UK douchebags say Zed before, but I thought they were just being douchy. And according to Wikipedia, you can say 'izzard' too.  Anyways, 'Zee' apparently started in the 17th century, so it's legit. This reminds me of something I've never been able to figure out: Who the fuck  actually says 'tomahto'? "

"Zed X Spectrum" is the only proper way to say that, and I'd love to see you disagree.
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mshaw006

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#37  Edited By mshaw006

The pronunciation of all consonants is made up of the letter's sound and an arbitrary vowel that makes it pronounceable, except for H, Q, W, Y. The Brits have Z also. It just makes less sense than the American way, which follows more closely to a universal pattern.

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#38  Edited By mrfizzy
@ZanzibarBreeze said:
" I hate to be one of those people that starts a million threads a day, but I'm wondering what you guyzes think about the letter Z, correctly pronounced Zee. I understand the historical reason for pronouncing it "Zed" - it comes from the Greek, et cetera. But I don't know of any instance in a word in the English language where you would pronounce the letter Z as Zed. You don't say Zed-bra, for example, you say Zee-bra. You don't say zed-alous, either.   I've done a quick mental run-through of the alphabet, and for every other letter there's a equal pronunciation of letter in word. For example - C: cinnamon, cest, cesspool. There are some fluky ones like M, but nothing as big as the disparity between how the letter Zee is pronounced in words and how it is said. "
I say Zed because in Australian and we speak the Kings English, also known as British English or English English. You have an argument if your talking about Americans i guess, but in a large majority of the world it is pronounced Zed not Zee. And just so you know, we dont say Zee-bra, we say Zeb-bra.  
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SonicFire

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#39  Edited By SonicFire

Uh, there are different dialects in English, and in the Queen's English, it's "zed," and Americans say "zee" 

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Tennmuerti

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#40  Edited By Tennmuerti

Language old or new American or British is irrelevant.
This game has always been called Zed
As a gamer first and foremost this is what make the most sense to me!

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CandleJakk

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#41  Edited By CandleJakk

I don't say 'Zee-bra'. In Britain it's pronounced 'Zeh-bra'.

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cap123

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#42  Edited By cap123
@alternate:  um, it's just zeb-ra, not zed-bra in england..?
 
right????
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Bones8677

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#43  Edited By Bones8677

I find it more odd that Brits try so hard not to pronounce R's yet shoehorn the sound into every other word that doesn't have an R in it. Idea is prounced "I-deer," and so on.  
 
 
 
I'm just joking around guys. ^.^  

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rinkalicous

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#44  Edited By rinkalicous
@GreggD said:
" @ZanzibarBreeze: Well, he is Canadian.

@MarkWahlberg said:

" What the fuck. I've never heard of anyone seriously using Zed instead of Z. I know about Uk-American differences and all, like gaol and SHEdule and all that.  I mean, I've heard some non-UK douchebags say Zed before, but I thought they were just being douchy. And according to Wikipedia, you can say 'izzard' too.  Anyways, 'Zee' apparently started in the 17th century, so it's legit. This reminds me of something I've never been able to figure out: Who the fuck  actually says 'tomahto'? "

"Zed X Spectrum" is the only proper way to say that, and I'd love to see you disagree. "
Checkmate!
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MarkWahlberg

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#45  Edited By MarkWahlberg

OH SHIT I JUST REALIZED WHAT THE PROBLEM IS. NON AMERICAN'S DON'T HAVE THE MOTHERFUCKING SONG! WE NEED TO SAY 'ZEE' FOR THE SONG TO WORK! 
 
I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS IN CASE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE.

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CaptainScarLeg

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#46  Edited By CaptainScarLeg
@ZanzibarBreeze said:
" You don't say Zed-bra, for example, you say Zee-bra. "
Actually brits say Ze-bra, not Zed-bra or Zee-bra. Imagine saying Zed without the d on the end. It's a short 'eh' sound rather than a longer 'ee' sound.
Also the letter "Zed" sounds cooler than the letter "Zee", Zee sounds like it's younger brother or something.
 
Despite all that though, I would never say "Dragon Ball Zed"... that's just wrong. I always remember watching british cartoon network as a kid and hearing some guy say "Coming up next, Dragon Ball Zed" -_-
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I_smell

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#47  Edited By I_smell
@ZanzibarBreeze said:

" @I_smell said:

Ey Bee Sea Dee Ee Ef Jee, what the hell are you talking about? This is both crazy and wrong. "

I didn't mean all the time, man. I meant that there's at least some words where both line up. Find me a legitimate word in the English language where the Z is said as Zed. That's what I meant. There might be one, I don't know. I spent about a minute looking on Dictionary.com. Couldn't find one. :) "
Zebra, Zen, Zest, Zedoary and Zephyr
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cap123

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#48  Edited By cap123
@MarkWahlberg:  if you're talking about the alphabet song we still do that, it just ends in Zed
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takua108

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#49  Edited By takua108

When I hear "zed," all that comes to mind is:

Ed: Are there any zombies out there? 
Shaun: Don't say that! 
Ed: What? 
Shaun: That. 
Ed: What? 
Shaun: That. The zed-word. Don't say it. 
Ed: Why not? 
Shaun: Because it's ridiculous! 
Ed: Alright...Are there any out there, though? 
Shaun: Don't see any... Maybe it's not as bad as all that. Oh! Nope, there they are.

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CandleJakk

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#50  Edited By CandleJakk
@Newten said:
" @ZanzibarBreeze said:
" You don't say Zed-bra, for example, you say Zee-bra. "
Actually brits say Ze-bra, not Zed-bra or Zee-bra. Imagine saying Zed without the d on the end. It's a short 'eh' sound rather than a longer 'ee' sound. Also the letter "Zed" sounds cooler than the letter "Zee", Zee sounds like it's younger brother or something.  Despite all that though, I would never say "Dragon Ball Zed"... that's just wrong. I always remember watching british cartoon network as a kid and hearing some guy say "Coming up next, Dragon Ball Zed" -_- "
It's a different rule though, if it's a brand name or pronoun, so Drangon Ball Z, would be 'zee', just like the ZX Spectrum, as pointed out above (i hope) is pronounce Zed-X in America.