Zee versus zed

[Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride]

This week I've been running visual acuity tests for year 7s. I soon noticed that about 80% of them say zee instead of zed. Now I know language changes etc, it's a mix of us influences and maybe learning phonics in primary, but it made me feel unaccountably sad.
Do your kids say zed or zee?

That would annoy me because it sounds so contrived coming from English person. It reminds me of David Brent in The Office saying, “you do the math”.

My daughter pronounces Amazon as “Ama-ZON”.

As for kids saying “pissed” to mean “pissed off”, I’m afraid I’d wilfully misunderstand them every time, then remind them that the two phrases have different meanings in the UK.

Zed's dead, baby!

Mine are students; the one who watches YouTube videos still speaks English, the TV drama one is heavily American - she even said "rowt" for route the other day. I moan every time at all of it but what can you do? When I was teaching secondary, I swear many students had never heard "zed".

Nike. Nike is the Greek goddess of victory.

Nye-kee.

Not Nike like bike.

Please.

Even though I know this the be true and very reasonable, I just sounds wrong when it comes out of my mouth.

😭

I was banned from watching any American tv in case I said anything with an American accent as my cousin once said zee after watching Sesame Street. So many children are plonked in front of you tube and pick up an American accent now.

I can’t work out the Amazon example. Am I saying it wrong? How else would it be pronounced? I say “am-a-zon”.

I know when I speak about the geographic place I put less emphasis on the final syllable than I do when I talk about the online store.

Ah that’s true now I think about it. “Am-a-zun Rainforest” vs “order it from Am-a-zon”.

Mine say zzzzzzz because thats the phonetically correct way to say it😎

I said Zee the other day (DD’s initial) and I did raise an eyebrow at myself. But I actually prefer Zee and it makes the alphabet song flow nicer. Zed is so jarring. Zee as in Bee, Dee, Ee, Gee, Pee, Tee and Vee.

Oh, as for what the kids say, I just polled them and it’s 100% zee and zzz.

When I was a child in the late 60s/70s, teachers at our primary school (working class area inner London) taught H as ‘haitch’. My mum queried why and they said it was to teach children to use the ‘H’ sound. We lived in an area where the local accent had dropped aitches.

I blame 'Miss Rachel'.
She also sings 'put it in ,put it in, put it in' to small children. She knows very well what she's doing there

@Christmastinsel78

I'm confused on this J- how exactly do you pronounce it?

For me, it is pronounced "dzai" to rhyme with "eye" or "sigh"

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/reason-glaswegians-say-jai-instead-25975325?intsource=amppcontinuereading&inttmedium=amp&intcampaign=continueereadingbutton#amp-readmore-target

I put the stress on the first syllable - A-ma-zun. DD has copied a US YouTube star who puts the stress on the last syllable.

I think it might be more Amazone, rather than Amazon?
Not sure.
i do also say haitch rather than aitch, and jai rather than jay and I would disinherit my kids if they said zee rather than zed

I’ve never heard anyone say jai for J. Is it a regional thing?
the NHS is valuable for many reasons, but not least because it preserves aitch. Nobody says En-Haitch-Ess

Glasgow, and I think elsewhere in Scotland too.

I do.

I was telling an English teacher and the first thing she asked was a aitch or haitch. Moot point, as that chart didn’t have any Hs on.
And good point about phonics, we don’t use them in secondary.

I’m an English teacher and even I was doubting myself! But true - no phonics in my teaching experience.

They do in Wales 🙈😡

From the abc song - it doesn’t rhyme if you go with zed.

Am-a-ZARN?