Why zed vs zee

So zed is British and zee is American, yes? Well, that might be the case today, but once upon a time things were quite different. Historically, both zed and zee were used pretty much interchangeably in both British and American English, alongside a whole host of other more outlandish names for the last or rather, second last letter of the alphabet, like izzard , uzzard , zad , shard and, our personal favorite, ezod. Since then, preference for zee has been on the rise, while zed has been on the decline.

However, the change has been far less pronounced than in other examples: change in preference for the term couch over chesterfield , or gutters over eavestroughs , has been more acute. According to the North American Regional Vocabulary Survey carried out by linguist Charles Boberg from to , 70 per cent of Canadians now say zed and 28 per cent say zee. The Gage Canadian Dictionary includes an entry for zed — though not for zee. According to both linguists, zed is an iconic example of the small ways in which Canadians resist American linguistic influence and maintain autonomy see Canadian Identity and Language.

However, between and the mids, use of zed among students dropped by 11—15 per cent to stand at 61 per cent, while use of zee increased by over 20 per cent to stand at 34 per cent. Changes in the way people speak as they mature have lessened the rise of zee and may continue to do so.

Zany Dr. The show featured independent and sometimes viewer-submitted content, including short films and documentaries , animation and music. Zeds Dead is an electronic music duo from Toronto that formed in Zed was a Cirque du Soleil production staged in Japan from to Search The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Remember me. I forgot my password. Why sign up? Create Account. In the s, the pronunciation really took off when Charles Bradlee wrote the famous alphabet song and included zee instead of zed to rhyme with me , essentially solidifying the newer pronunciation as the de facto diction for Americans.

One etymology enthusiast, Paul Anthony Jones , speculates on his blog that Americans may have adapted the more modern pronunciation "to make a stand—no matter how small it might seem—against British control" after the Revolutionary War, though it's just as likely that colonists adopted the pronunciation because it was easier to understand.

So there you have it: When it comes down to it, the reason why Z is pronounced as zee in America is nothing more than convenience. To discover more amazing secrets about living your best life, click here to follow us on Instagram! All Rights Reserved. Open side menu button. Zed, zee By Morgan Greenwald July 18,