> It has come to my attention that in Britain the letter Z is pronounced "zed" (or maybe it was "zet"), whereas in America it's pronounced "zee." This raises the question of the alphabet song.
>
> Ay, bee, cee, dee, ee, eff, gee / aitch, i, jay, kay, ell em en oh pee / que, arr, ess, tee, yue, vee / double-yue, ex, why and . . . zed.
>
> That doesn't rhyme! It doesn't work! How do British people sing the ABC's if V and Z don't rhyme? Do they pronounce V "ved" to compensate? Do they - I'm hoping for the sake of all humanity that this is not the answer - not have the alphabet song? This is mauling my mind, beating my brain, goring my gray matter. If any of you British-ites out there have any insights they would be greatly appreciated.
>
> -eric "And what about New Zealand and Australia? And South Africa? And Jamaica? How do they pronounce 'Z?'" sleator
> Tue 12 Dec A.D. 2000

Really I should keep out of this one - I don't trust myself - but I think that the ZED pronounciation is what it always used to be before Samuel Webster came along and thought it was a good idea to make it rhyme so it was easier for children to learn.

Incidentally, according to my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "Zebra" should not be pronounced "zed-bra", as most English would have it, but "zee-bra". So now you know.

Chr"I'm good at English - so their"ico