Another question for a quiet Sunday afternoon w/ no F1 racing (and Mets not playing until tonight) - why do the Brits etc not call "cee" -> "ced", "gee" -> "ged"?!? I had an Australian colleague, who referred to the letter "h" as haytch (my attempt at phonetic spelling) rather than the more typical "aytch" one hears in the States. Of course, I was born in Brooklyn, so any posts from me having to do with pronunciation have to be taken with a very large grain of salt....T
LMAO and you are on point (or should I say pernt?) No F1 does lead to random thoughts instigated by none other than Jack Handy.
Can only speak to science. Mainly usage of zed that I have seen is by Brits and folks from former Commonwealth countries....T
I was watching a episode of "Legendary Motorcar" and Peter talked with a American collector and when this collector referred to a specific car (cannot remember the exact car) he used the term "Zed" and I immediately thought what a poseur. At least I will know what the bloody wanker is referring too the next time I cross the bayou.
Other way around - can someone explain when ZED became ZEE? Canadians still say ZED - unless we're being typically polite around Americans, then we say ZEE for their benefit.
Bless you Canadians for humoring us! Post # 2 suggested it was 1800's, which seems reasonable. Americans trying to sound less British after the Revolutionary War? I personally don't think it's that big of a deal since the British seem to actively try to replace many an "ess" with a "zed"! Amortize to Amortise, Catalyze to Catalyse, etc. Was it GB Shaw who said something along the lines - America and Britain, two nations divided by a common language? Heck, we in the Southern US have enough issues being understood by our own countrymen on the coasts and up north, what with our fixin', y'all, dang, etc. So, being mis-understood by ferners (Google it!) haint worth hollerin' bout...T
It does sound pretentious when Americans say "zed." I suppose I would use it if I were in a foreign country, just as a matter of custom and to be better understood. But for the life of me, after having made dozens of trips to dozens of countries, I can't recall ever having needed to use it!
I guess an American pronouncing it as "zed" would be the same sort of bloke that draws a small crossbar on his 7s. Unless he or she is regularily dealing with Europeans or Asians, it's likely a pretentious affectation.
Uh oh. I do that, but as a scientist it is a leftover from written notebooks, to make it easier to distinguish from a 1 or l. Likewise, with putting a slash through a 0 to distinguish from o, or same deal with a zee, oops zed, to distinguish from 2....T
I do this as well. Mostly for clarity when dealing with young people whose spelling and recognition of letters have been perverted by texting and slangspeak.
I tend to do both. But in some things I'm more American over Canadian. Like spelling, color instead of colour, or labor versus labour. I only use the metric system in Canadian deli's. Temp and distance, I always use Fahrenheit and miles. In temp I don't understand Celsius at all. I did most of my high school in Nevada. Lived in the states off and on for the past 30 years. I've had Canadians ask me what part of the states do I come from. Americans are always surprised I'm Canadian, even in non border states like Arizona.
If I say the Corvette ZR1 or ZO6, I use Zed. If its the Nissan Z series I say Zee. See interchangeable, depends on the Z item. Oh the common wealth is still around, it has 53 member states (most have British influence in language). 16 members states have Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, including Canada. I believe BC is the most Americanized of the Canadian provinces. Majority of our TV channels are American out of Seattle. TV has a big influence on language.
Similarly, it's aluminium everywhere else but here. Al you MIN ee um. But we win wars so zee and aluminum. And inches and feet and pounds.
