Zed or Zee

[Varba 0]

Is it really true that you can't find decent cheese curd in the states? (I'll make my own poutine if I must..but grated cheese is where I draw the line! )

You can find them, it's just much less common.

I never heard it called Zed in my life until I met Peachey. It still sounds weird when I hear it, but I know what it is.

Is it weird that, as an American, I miss Swiss Chalet?

I think Peachey is going to kill me if she says she's not in the mood to cook, and where should she eat - and I say Swiss Chalet one more time.

[Sprailenes 47]

I know I asked my husband about it last night and he tells me he never knew Z was called that. In fact like everyone else I have talked to down here, he said: "That's ridiculous"

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Uhm - why are you making me pick between Tim's, Swiss Chalet and Montreal smoked meat?

different needs, different times of the day. Tims coffee and a donut for breakfast, montreal smoked meat sandwich for lunch and SC for dinner

[warlord 72]

This is an odd poll! Where does it come from? I said Zed in Canada, and I still say Zed. I'm 51 years old. I can't change how I speak now just because I'm living in a part of the America's that think's I should be saying Zee. I wonder where Canadians that say Zee learned it? From watching American Sesame Street episodes? Wierd...

Could be from TV like Seaseme Street. When Canadians decided to do their own version they changed everything, but growing up we only had the real one where it was always Z.

Also maybe the proximity to New York and Michigan helped too. I just know when in the 80's there seemed to be a huge amount of emphisis on Canadian content and stuff in the media and new shows were created and they wanted to identify themselves as a real nationality rather then pseudo-Americans. So things like Canadian version of this show or that show emerged (especially for Children) and the CRTC was able to hijack US stations and show some of the programming, but inputting their own commercials and cartoons etc.

For instance I had School House Rock growing up inbetween cartoons on Sat morning. I learnded about the Capital, the senate, how bills were passed, and many other things about the government. I believe Canada did something similar on US stations in the 80's talking about the monarch or parliment or whatever to make it unique to Canada. During this time, I noticed a lot more people trying to create a "Canadian identity" then I had seen before.

So simple answer is probably a combination of things...

[Christi and Ian 24]

Trailmix

OMG, I want all of the above foods!!! I said:

Zed

Zed

Coffee and a donut

I mainly say zed here in the US because it doesn't occur to me to say it any other way..... because I'm old and set in my ways. Plus it's not that big of a deal. Except I'll probably make more of an effort ever since the car salesman asked me to spell Z.

I did the same thing when my then boyfriend, now husband was calling from the airport to get his flight info, and giving me the password to his email account.

Being a USC of course, I say Zee, and I use the reasoning that Zed doesn't rhyme when you sing the ABC song...

[Krikit 1,163]

I did the same thing when my then boyfriend, now husband was calling from the airport to get his flight info, and giving me the password to his email account.

That's hilarious. I can just imagine the conversation. Probably a lot like me trying to spell zed to the salesman and not clueing in to why he didn't get it. And him looking at me like I had lost my mind. Luckily, my husband was there.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

This is an odd poll! Where does it come from? I said Zed in Canada, and I still say Zed. I'm 51 years old. I can't change how I speak now just because I'm living in a part of the America's that think's I should be saying Zee. I wonder where Canadians that say Zee learned it? From watching American Sesame Street episodes? Wierd...

Could be from TV like Seaseme Street. When Canadians decided to do their own version they changed everything, but growing up we only had the real one where it was always Z.

Also maybe the proximity to New York and Michigan helped too. I just know when in the 80's there seemed to be a huge amount of emphisis on Canadian content and stuff in the media and new shows were created and they wanted to identify themselves as a real nationality rather then pseudo-Americans. So things like Canadian version of this show or that show emerged (especially for Children) and the CRTC was able to hijack US stations and show some of the programming, but inputting their own commercials and cartoons etc.

For instance I had School House Rock growing up inbetween cartoons on Sat morning. I learnded about the Capital, the senate, how bills were passed, and many other things about the government. I believe Canada did something similar on US stations in the 80's talking about the monarch or parliment or whatever to make it unique to Canada. During this time, I noticed a lot more people trying to create a "Canadian identity" then I had seen before.

So simple answer is probably a combination of things...

There's a reason Canadian content is needed - otherwise Canada gets swallowed up by the US of A. The same way native people want to preserve their culture from being contaminated and lost. I remmeber watching school house rock too and American Sesame street - but I knew it was American - in fact I rememebr asking my mum about zed/zee and she explained it.

[KnJ 0]

Zed instead of Z sounds really strange. I have always said Z and never have said Zed. I used to make fun of my friends in the 80's who suddenly started saying it Zed instead of Z.

I read that as:

Zed instead of Zed sounds really strange. I have always said Zed and never have said Zed. I used to make fun of my friends in the 80's who suddenly started saying it Zed instead of Zed.

hahaha I TOTALLY read it that way too. Yes if you write "Z" we will read "Zed" or "Zee" depending on who we are.

The history of Canada developing itself through protecting against US infiltration has roots that go waaaay back. Canada literally protected itself from being invaded by the US. The St. Lawrence as a geographic feature and the CN railroad as a national project both helped create an infrastructure that is Canada. Think of the railroad as a "communication device" carrying people and goods across the country. It connected the nation.

Here's something though -- remember that Sesame Street is a Jim Henson production. Guess where Jim Henson is from?

Zed and Zee are curious.

I'm actually asking, where in the heck did ZEE come from?? Brits, Canadians, Jamaicans, in fact probably most/all commonwealth countries, say ZED.

I'll have to study up on American history for my citizenship test but um.

Americans changed it to Zee in order to be different from the brits... history lesson ... the first Zee pronounciation appears in Lye's New Spelling Book (1677)

[warlord 72]

Zed instead of Z sounds really strange. I have always said Z and never have said Zed. I used to make fun of my friends in the 80's who suddenly started saying it Zed instead of Z.

I read that as:

Zed instead of Zed sounds really strange. I have always said Zed and never have said Zed. I used to make fun of my friends in the 80's who suddenly started saying it Zed instead of Zed.

hahaha I TOTALLY read it that way too. Yes if you write "Z" we will read "Zed" or "Zee" depending on who we are.

The history of Canada developing itself through protecting against US infiltration has roots that go waaaay back. Canada literally protected itself from being invaded by the US. The St. Lawrence as a geographic feature and the CN railroad as a national project both helped create an infrastructure that is Canada. Think of the railroad as a "communication device" carrying people and goods across the country. It connected the nation.

Here's something though -- remember that Sesame Street is a Jim Henson production. Guess where Jim Henson is from?

Zed and Zee are curious.

I'm actually asking, where in the heck did ZEE come from?? Brits, Canadians, Jamaicans, in fact probably most/all commonwealth countries, say ZED.

I'll have to study up on American history for my citizenship test but um.

Americans changed it to Zee in order to be different from the brits... history lesson ... the first Zee pronounciation appears in Lye's New Spelling Book (1677)

Ok I guess I never realized that Z would be thought of as Zed ha ha. Ok ZEEEEEEEEEE and Zed. There better?

With the Canadian content thing, yeah they wanted the national identity so they really started a big push in the 80's for that and hence when I noticed a lot of the changes, more Canadian bands being pushed, more Canadian tv shows etc. Stuff that you didn't see nearly as much before the 80's.

Yes, good old Jim Henson is from Mississippi. Maybe it should have been pronounced as Zah-eee instead.

[MonkeyJuice 3]

Sorry to but in but I say Zed too! All us Brits do.

[trailmix 77]

Sorry to but in but I say Zed too! All us Brits do.

You're not butting in

[SomberCat 0]

I think this is a fantastic subject because I've always wondered about it. My husband is 51 (same as you Carla!) and he says Zee. According to him, he's always said zee. Every one of his friends that I asked in Ontario also say Zee. So I was thinking that maybe it's a regional thing. However, my husband was born and raised in Nova Scotia and didn't leave until he was 20, so he learned Zee in Nova Scotia. He went so far one day to say that it makes HIM laugh when people say Zed because he rarely ever hears it.

[DeadPoolX 9]

I say "Zee" in both the U.S. and Canada, but then again, I'm American. From what I've been told, plenty of Canadians say "Zee" as well due to American media influences.

Having said that... I was teaching a class on computer basics (as a volunteer) and when I mentioned CTRL Z to undo mistakes, I said "Control Zee." One lady looked at me, laughed and asked, "Are you American?" I told her I was and then she started making fun of me and the United States.

I was trying not to get annoyed. After all, this was a FREE class for her (and anyone else who wants to sign up) and she's harassing me simply because I'm American? I thought to myself: "Lady, my nationality has absolutely no bearing on how I teach. If you don't like Americans that much, then you can get the hell out of here. Come back when there's a Canadian volunteer."

I didn't say that, of course. I did, however, ignore her for the rest of the class -- even when she had a question or wanted help. The volunteer coordinator, who's usually there, didn't care that I was ignoring her either. She complained to him and he said, "If you want help, you probably shouldn't make fun of the teacher and his nationality."

[KarenCee 3]

My MIL says Zed all the time and hubby says it most of the time but he flip flops on it...sometimes Zed, sometimes Zee. I try to say Zed when I am at home (NS) and Zee down here. Joel is working on teaching me French so I will be able to converse with the family more. Some of them do try to speak English but it's so heavily accented it's hard to catch most words.

Definitely coffee and a Tim's donut! Love poutine and donairs. Of course, one of my favourite things is those garlic fingers and donair sauce from Pizza Delight. OMG...*drool*

[KarenCee 3]

mmmmm Swiss Chalet...now that's definitely something yummy! Hubby tries to re-create it here at home, but...well...it's a good try!