Zed..

Hmmm... but Z is pronounced as "Tset" in German. Being a BMW and all, it seems appropriate.

I wonder if paradise would be pronounced "Vaydisha Bot"? (obscure joke for the deutche enlightened) :D
 
Gauss said:
If there is a little line in the middle of the Z it's zed. If there isn't, it's zee.
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Really not sure that has anything to do with it Gauss

As far as Z4 goes it's the "zed four" for everyone in the world apart from the Americans. "Z" is pronouced "zed" (or something similar) in French, German and most other languages. That said, the Americans changed it in "American English" and so for them it is Zee.

If the discussion is how is "Z4" pronounced then the answer has to be "depends if you're American"... they are not wrong, they just don't speak "English", they speak "American English" :D

Mmm, I just looked at what I wrote and there is a lot of "they" in there... didn't really mean it to come accross as "us vs them".

I think the story is the Americans based "zee" on an 18th Century dialiect (I may be wrong here)... but my opinion is they made it up so it fits in the "ABC song" ;)

For those of us in I.T. we just refer to it as 90 or 122 :D
 
sp3ctre said:
I think the story is the Americans based "zee" on an 18th Century dialiect (I may be wrong here)... but my opinion is they made it up so it fits in the "ABC song" ;)
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I agree. Big Bird, Elmo and Oscar the Grouch have a lot to answer for.
 
The alphabet song was first copyrighted under the title "The Schoolmaster" in Boston by C. Bradlee on February 4, 1834. Nobody knows who originally wrote the French melody, but whoever it was, Little Richard ain't got nothin' on him for lost royalties.

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/malphabetsong.html

It's sad, most Americans can't say the alphabet, we sing it. When a cop (bobbie?) is giving us a drunk driving test and asks us to say the alphabet backwards, we can't do it, you can't sing the song backwards! :rofl:
 
I can't believe that US cops do that whole "alphabet backwards/walk a straight line/touch your index fingers to your nose" crap. I mean, what if you're retarded? Or from Denver?

Besides, I can't say the alphabet backwards - except for the first (last) letter - and even the correct pronounciation of that is uncertain.

I guess they must be bored or something. They pull over someone who's driving is a bit suss (98% of anyone on the road) and play a little "America's got talent" of their own.

Scientific? Nah. Reliable? Nah. Admissible in court? Nah. Fun to tell their colleagues about back at the station - you bet.
 
Actually I believe the correct response the cop is looking for when they tell you to do the alphabet is that you can't do it sober. Supposedly if your try your drunk. Or your just like that one guy who actually did learn the alphabet backwards and surprised cops by it
 
Well, if you look closely, you can see that my post still talks about the pronounciation of the letter "Z". So apart from a small digression, I am still on topic.

But now I'm off topic by talking about being off topic.

Bah. Fair suck of the sav fellas, you guys are giving me the raw prawn.
 
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